Viridian
by SilvermistAnimeLover
Summary: When the world ends, their only hope is to send one Quirkless man back in time. Back in his 14-year-old body, will Midoriya Izuku be able to save the world that shunned him all his life? And will he finally be able to become a hero this go around? Good thing he had time as a vigilante to practice. [EraserMic; Gay Izu BUT he's not paired with ANYONE—No shipping for Izu]
1. Chapter 1

**_Whoo! Hello everyone! As a celebration of 1k followers on Wattpad, I'm posting a new story for bnha! :D Enjoy!_**

**_Chapter 1: Farewell_**

"You _have_ to go!" The older man shouted urgently, shooting a fierce glare towards his companion.

"If I leave you, you'll die!" The younger argued, green eyes brimming with tears.

"You know as well as I do, that we don't have a choice, here. We always knew one of us would have to stay behind to destroy the portal."

"So why should _I_ be the one to go?! You're the teacher! The Hero! What good could someone like me do?!"

"Izuku." The man's voice was harsh, and his sharp tone made the younger man's eyes focus on his friend. The elder's eyes softened. "It _must_ be you. You're not who you were back then. You aren't useless. Remember this: You are a Hero. And the world is counting on you—even if nobody realizes it."

"But…" Izuku sniffled. "What about _you_? I swore… I _promised_ I'd look after you!"

"Here. When the time comes… give this to him. You'll know he trusts you when he calls you 'Problem Child'." He smiled fondly, handing Izuku a pair of rings on a chain.

Deranged laughter filtered down the corridor, making the two stiffen. They hadn't expected _him_ to show up. With _that_ man in the building, they knew their defenses wouldn't hold for much longer.

"You need to go, _now_." He pulled Izuku into a hug, as the smaller man clung to him for all he was worth, tears streaming down his face. "This isn't goodbye."

"Yes it _is_." Izuku's fingers dug into the man's shoulder. "You won't be… _you_."

"That's ridiculous. I'll always be me. And you'll always be my Problem Child." The man then violently shoved Izuku backwards, making him stumble into the swirling vortex. "Save the world, Midoriya Izuku." He smiled, a bright hopeful grin that looked so out of place on the man's exhausted face.

The door behind him disintegrated into dust as a blue-haired man covered in severed hands grinned in glee, only to screech in rage upon seeing Izuku in the portal. With an indomitable fury, his hand latched onto the older man's face, covering his eyes so he couldn't escape his fate.

"SHOUTA!"

With a smirk, Shouta clicked the big red button. The last thing Izuku heard, before being entirely consumed by the portal, was the Gateway exploding.

Pain. Pain was all that Izuku knew. It felt like his atoms were being torn apart and thrust back together. The first thing he was aware of, as the pain started to fade, was that it was unusually bright outside. And someone was there. He tried to fall into a defensive crouch, but his body wouldn't obey. Instead he found himself on his butt as he blinked up at… _All Might?!_

"I cannot simply say you can become a hero even without power."

Oh. _Oh_. This was that day on the rooftop. _Of course I had to go back to one of the worst moments of my life. OF FUCKING COURSE! _He only looked back up when the iron door closed behind the blond figure.

Izuku winced as he staggered to his feet. He looked down at his hands—younger hands. They were smaller than he was used to, but there was still that scar he'd gotten when he was 23 after he stupidly participated in a drunken round of the Knife Game.

"Wait a minute…" He winced when his voice came out several octaves higher than he was used to, but ignored that for the moment. He instead looked himself over. Carefully peeling off his shirt, he looked down to find a familiar, yet vastly different body. His muscle was still there, as were all his scars. He could count his ribs, and his skin was shockingly pale. That slash he'd gotten from a Nomu two weeks ago was still there and healing, but his body was also so much _smaller_.

"I… I'm 14 again." They had had no idea how things would pan out. For all their calculations and carefully run scenarios, Izuku and Shouta had no real way of knowing if this would even work. For all they knew, he'd be tossed back a few months or even to the womb. Or just killed.

"Shouta…" Izuku breathed as the gravity of what had just happened hit him_ hard_. He fell back against the wall behind him and brought his face to his knees. With no one there to witness anything, he freely cried for the first time since Zashi's death. He was truly alone for the first time in years, and it wasn't a good feeling. He felt isolated and lost and he _needed_ Shouta's strong reassuring arms around him. He needed his best friend… his _brother_. And the realization that Shouta and Hizashi were still alive now didn't help any because they _wouldn't remember him_. He would be a stranger to them, and that just hurt him all the more.

"Damnit Shou…" He sniffled, voice cracking. "I swear to God I'm going to make your life a living hell for pulling that kind of stunt." He aggressively swiped away his tears. "We were supposed to do this _together_, you asshole." He looked down at the necklace clenched in his fist. Hizashi and Shouta's wedding bands sat innocently in his palm. With a shaky sigh, he put the necklace around his own neck and tucked it into his shirt—which he put back on.

Wait… He looked down at his clothing. It was exactly what he'd been wearing in the lab that he and Shouta had occupied. How had All Might not…? "Time travel is so goddamned confusing." He shook his head. He patted himself down, smirking lightly as he realized he had all his weapons on his person.

"Cool. So I've got ten months until the Entrance Exams." He nodded to himself. He looked over the railing to the bustling city below him. He felt like his senses were on overdrive. He'd survived about 8-10 years in the deathly silence of a post-apocalyptic world where the slightest sound could very well get you _killed_. So a lively town filled with colorful noise and movement made him twitchy as hell, and set all his senses to high alert as he awaited the arrival of an enemy that he _knew_ wasn't going to come.

"As if I wasn't socially awkward enough _before_." He shook his head.

Izuku had _no_ intentions of going back 'home'. His _dear_ mother had never taken kindly to his Quirklessness. She had been a kind and loving woman once, but his father had come home when he was about five and slowly poisoned her mind. So even though his father was off on long business trips and never home, his mother had dished out plenty of neglect more often than not. She wasn't outright abusive, but she could care less if he was even there or not.

With that thought in mind, he carefully leapt from one rooftop to another, avoiding the more populated areas as he made his way back to his mother's apartment. He was honestly surprised he remembered where it was, let alone which window was his. It'd been long enough that he'd hardly remembered the apartment number. The only way he recognized the room was because of that crack on the window from when he'd gotten mad at age 7 and threw something at it.

Izuku stole into his old bedroom, taking a moment to reminisce about his old childish room. The walls were covered in drawings of hero posters that he'd never been allowed to buy (he'd gotten much better at drawing them over the years) and the shelves were covered in replicas of hero merch that he'd eyed in the stores. The older ones he'd made from stolen play-doh at school, while the newer ones were made of actual clay he'd snitched from some pottery places around town (the scraps, that is).

He smiled softly before grabbing a backpack and stuffing it with clothes, provisions, and blankets. He carefully took the three Eraserhead figurines, five Present Mic figurines, and one Midnight figurine.

He grabbed his analysis notebooks and a fair supply of pencils, clay, and paints before sneaking into his mother's room and snagging some money. With that done, he grabbed one picture (taken on his third birthday, before everything went to shit), and fled out the window.

There was only one place he could think of that he could stay without having to answer any unnecessary questions or interact with people—Dagoba Beach. He couldn't help but grin as he came upon the heaping mountains of trash. Nobody would bother him, here. That's for sure.

He dug his way through the trash before finding an old abandoned camper. He'd need to clean it out, but it'd be perfect. He grinned as he went inside. It smelled terrible, but he'd lived in worse. At least he'd be warm.

* * *

Being a kid again, Izuku decided, was _weird._ Gone was his stubble and deep voice, and back was that awkward higher-pitched squeaky voice he'd been stuck with until he'd hit 16 or so.

It'd been about two weeks since his return, and Izuku was finally settled. He'd cleaned out the camper and scrubbed every inch of it with bleach he'd bought from the local dollar store. Beggars can't be choosers, but he was going to minimize as many health risks as he could. By the time he was done, the place was practically sparkling. He'd fixed the moldy leaky roof, too. The engine was shot to hell, but that was fine by him. He wasn't planning on going anywhere, anyways.

But he was also getting restless. He'd had a backpack that had come back with him from the future that had plenty of supplies and plans that he and Shouta had worked on together (and sometimes just _seeing_ Shouta's handwriting made him tear up). But his old Vigilante outfit was in there, too. And it got him thinking.

In the years before Shigaraki destroyed the world, Midoriya Izuku had been a vigilante known as Viridian. He'd tried to find a solid career as a Quirkless nobody. He'd ended up eventually trying his hand at support items, but even helping heroes didn't satisfy his deep seeded need to _help_ people.

And back then, there'd been a lot more people that needed help than the heroes could reach, so Izuku had taken it upon himself to answer those quiet cries for help.

He smiled softly as he held the dark green jumpsuit. The 'mask' looked more like an old-school ninja's, leaving his green eyes open for the world to see. He held it up in front of him and frowned.

Of course, the outfit was made with his _adult_ self in mind. So his tiny prepubescent self was _not_ going to fit into that outfit. "Ooookay. Time for Plan B."

Plan B was to go by the local discount store and buy a Halloween costume and then modify it to look as close to his vigilante outfit as possible.

The end result was a black jumpsuit with multiple hidden pouches (as well as a bunch of pouches that resembled a utility belt) that looked reminiscent of a ninja. It wasn't as durable as he would've liked, and it wasn't _anything_ resistant, but it'd have to do.

He pulled up the head mask, which left only the slit for his eyes, and attached his weapons to his person. He looked in the cracked mirror he'd salvaged from the dump. He looked like a good ol' fashioned ninja—like an actual shadow-person. He was kind of cool, if he _did_ say so himself.

He tightened his bootlaces (five-finger discounted from the mall) and triple checked his mask. He was _finally_ ready to go.

* * *

Izuku sighed as he readied himself to go out on his patrol. It'd been about two months since he started doing these again, and it was dreadfully easy.

He'd had no idea how uncommon vigilantes were before the League of Villains' attack on USJ. In fact there were only a handful in Japan (who lasted more than a week).

Even though he was still dreadfully malnourished from his time in the future, he rarely had any trouble bringing down criminals. They just weren't anywhere near the same caliber as the Nomu he was used to facing.

Because of this, he was starting to make a name for himself. The Internet, in particular, was starting to whisper about a new vigilante who was protecting civilians in the harsher, less patrolled areas that heroes seemed to forget. Places like South Musutafu, where the unwanted of society seemed to end up.

He'd learned from the misfortune of others that if he didn't come up with a name for himself, that the police and Internet would come up with one _for_ him. And they didn't always come up with the best of names. So Izuku decided, since he was also kind of shit at names, to stick with the one he'd had in his previous timeline—Viridian.

He smirked as he tied up a group of drug traders, who were glaring at him. He chuckled, the new voice modifier made his voice sound deeper and older. It sounded like his future self, which honestly put Izuku more at ease.

"Do me a favor, would'ya?" He grinned beneath his mask as he looked at the three men. "Let the cops know that Viridian says hi." With that, he nimbly scaled the side of the building, finding handholds and footholds where most people would find none.

Within minutes, the police were on the scene, responding to the phone call of the frightened civilian he'd saved. A man with a familiar tan trench coat stepped out of one of the vehicles. Viridian grinned.

_So they've finally brought Tsukauchi on? This'll be interesting._ He knew of the detective from his original vigilante career. He was a good man and a fantastic detective. Viridian was going to have _fun_ with him.

"All right, Detective." Viridian muttered to himself. "Let the games begin."

* * *

**_Ihavenoname: Dude, have you heard of that new vigilante in Musutafu?_**

**_TheCakeisaLie: Viridian, right? He's all over the chatrooms! Nobody can stop talking about the guy. _**

**_DragoninaDress: I think he's just a rumor. Nobody's seen him but the people he's supposedly caught, after all. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: I saw him! I swear! He totally saved me the other night. These guys were about to attack me, and he just hops down from the rooftop like a badass and saves me! He looks like a ninja but has green eyes. _**

**_Noiscardily: You serious?_**

**_TheCakeisaLie: I'm glad you're okay! Did you get a picture? _**

**_DragoninaDress: I still don't think he's real. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: I got a grainy shot. It was dark. Gimme a sec, I'm new to this site…_**

**_Noiscardily: Upper left of your chat box, click the dots. Should have an option for an attachment. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: thnx_**

**_MoldiBroccli: _**

**_Demonic-gay-microwave: holy shit hes real._**

**_DragoninaDress: mm… could b photoshopped. _**

**_Barbieisawhore: just admit ur wrong, smh._**

**_MoldiBroccli: at any rate, I owe Viridian my life. He's got a new fan in me, for sure. #Viridian #heroes #vigilante #ViridiantheHero_**


	2. Chapter 2: Fun and Games

_**Hello everyone~! I'm still (somehow) alive. And back with a new chapter for Viridian~! :D Don't kill me. I know you're all looking forward to a new chapter of Swan Dive, but it isn't finished yet. I get MAYBE a day off of work a week, if I'm lucky, so please be patient on this poor author. **_

_**Also, I'm considering making a for those of you who wish to give me any extra cash or whatever you have laying around in your couch cushions. Even a cup of coffee can help keep me going (and I'm not just talking about writing, either). Obviously, this is fanficiton, and I can't make money off of it, but it's just a thought I'm putting out there. **_

_**That said, please enjoy~!**_

**_Chapter 2: Fun and Games_**

Viridian grinned. He was having a _blast_! It had been nearly four months since he'd become a vigilante again, and the lower crime rates of this time allowed him _more_ time to mess with his favorite detective.

They'd already brought the heroes on board, as was protocol when a vigilante ran rampant for too long. He enjoyed his little game of 'hide and seek' if you will. If he was stuck as a kid again, he was going to enjoy _every minute_ of it. So far, nobody but the villains he left for Tsukauchi had seen him, and he now held a reputation as one of Japan's most elusive vigilantes to date—something he was rather proud of.

Tonight, he was playing a game with Tsukauchi and the hero that the detective had invited along—Midnight.

Viridian would admit—it was hard to see her again. She'd been like family to him in his original timeline, and knowing that she wouldn't even recognize him now made his heart constrict painfully. It was part of the reason _why_ he was playing this game tonight. If he couldn't even handle seeing _Nemuri_ again, how on earth would he handle seeing Hizashi or Shouta? And he had no doubts that Eraserhead would soon be brought on to his case. The man was well known for his ways with vigilantes.

Viridian had been leaving notes with each criminal he'd captured tonight. Each one had some sort of puzzle or code that Tsukauchi had to crack which would lead him to the next clue (or villain). Izuku had spent the last week and a half making them all, so he was greatly enjoying the chaos that was unfolding.

Especially when Tsukauchi found one clue taped _under his desk_.

"How the hell did he get in here?!" Tsukauchi growled, rifling through the security footage, which had since been edited.

"Looks like Viridian is pretty tech-savvy." Midnight tapped her chin as she looked around the office.

"I have little doubt he can hear us right now." Tsukauchi growled as his phone pinged.

**_ViridianChaos: Sure can Tsukauchi-kun~!_**

"How did you…? You know what? I'm not even going to ask." He shook his head as Midnight came over to look over his shoulder.

"Huh. So this guy's got us bugged, too?" She looked herself over.

**_ViridianChaos: Don't bother with it right now, Kayama-chan. I'll deactivate the bugs as soon as tonight's game is done. No worries!_**

"How the _hell_ does this guy know my _name_?!" Midnight growled, eyes scouring the room as if she could find the vigilante hiding under a chair.

"That's just how he is." Tsukauchi sighed, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. "Don't take it too personally. He's got information on just about everyone that we have no idea how he got a hold of. Now come on, this clue has coordinates to follow."

With that, the two sped off towards the coordinates. Viridian laughed as he followed them along the rooftops. He'd been at this game since early that evening—around 6pm—and it was now nearly 12am. He'd kept the two far past their shifts, but it was for a very good reason.

Because while they were busy following his breadcrumbs and rounding up the criminals he'd captured, Viridian was busting open a very large and highly dangerous drug ring—one that he didn't want to let the detective participate in due to the volatile nature of the drugs they were handling.

To someone with a Quirk, getting hit by these drugs could be devastating, as their effects were known to permanently damage someone's Quirk Factor—sometimes completely destroying it altogether. But to Viridian—who had no Quirk Factor—it was as harmless as saline.

And the faces on the gang leaders when they shot him with the drug and he just brushed it off was _priceless_!

"H-How?! That should've destroyed your Quirk!" The man cried out, terrified, as he backed away. "E-even if it takes a bit to activate, it should at _least_ cause you debilitating pain!" His men were already unconscious around him, and the man he'd been trading with watched with an interested gaze.

"So _you're_ the new vigilante on the block. Viridian, yes?" The man had dark brown hair and a mask that reminded Viridian of an old witch doctor.

"Yes. And you are Chisaki Kai, better known as Overhaul."

"Your information network is as impressive as they say. You're one elusive man, you know."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Could be." Overhaul pulled out what looked to be a business card. "If you ever find yourself in need of comrades… I can make you great."

"I appreciate the offer, Chisaki-san, but I'm afraid that I work for myself." He answered carefully as he casually knocked the whimpering drug trader out, turning his entire focus towards the yakuza boss.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. So what do you say to a mutual partnership?" Viridian could hear the grin in Chisaki's voice as he spoke. "I'll leave you to think on that. Contact me if you change your mind."

He let out a breath of relief when the masked man left. He knew Overhaul was one of the worst kinds of villains one could encounter. He wasn't stupid enough to pick a fight with him right off the get-go, _especially_ when he had no backup.

He vaguely remembered hearing about the man torturing children, and keeping one girl who was rumored to be his daughter captive. He clenched his fist. _I'm sorry, little girl. You're going to have to wait a little while longer, okay? I can't get to you, yet._ He mentally apologized.

Viridian shook his head and rounded up the villains in the warehouse before tying them all up and getting the final prize ready. Tsukauchi and Midnight were going to _hate_ him so much for this, but their reactions would be hilarious!

* * *

Tsukauchi Naomasa was _not_ happy. He'd been sent on a wild fucking goosechase with Midnight for nearly 6 hours straight. He was tired, and that stupid Vigilante Viridian had been _mocking_ them all night long! At one point, the bastard had even led them to Tsukauchi's favorite café! And upon walking in, the barista had held out his and Midnight's favorite drinks, claiming that someone had come in earlier to pay for them. He'd even specified the time for pickup! And of course, there was no physical description or video on the security cameras to tell them anything they didn't already know.

The detective was far beyond done, and his hero companion for the night looked frazzled and high strung, too. He had half a mind to just call it quits and give up on Viridian for the evening, when they _finally_ discovered the last clue. Or, what Naomasa _prayed_ was the last clue.

**_ViridianChaos: I see you've made it to the final clue~! Just in time, Detective! Come find your treasure. Arrr!_**

He shook his head as he read the text. This guy was so childish.

The location in question was an old warehouse. He could smell the gunpowder from outside, meaning that something had gone down here recently. He signaled for his team and Midnight to be on high alert, as they rushed into the warehouse.

"FREEZE! POLICE!" He paused as he stared at a large group of men tied up and suspended from the rafters. They were making muffled protests through their gags, as a spotlight, of all things, illuminated a large old-fashioned treasure chest—like what you'd see in pirate movies. It looked big enough for a grown man to climb into.

Was this a sneak attack? No, Viridian was clever. He wouldn't allow himself to stay in such a restricted and obvious location. So who—or what—was inside?

Tsukauchi gave a long-suffering sigh as he ordered his men to round up the villains and approached the chest cautiously. Midnight gave him a subtle nod and they opened it together.

Inside were thousands of… golden coins?

"They're chocolate." Midnight realized.

Tsukauchi would not be proud of his momentary lapse in self-control as he screamed out in frustration and anger. "**VIRIDIAN!**"

They heard laughter echo around the warehouse and _everyone_ stiffened. The vigilante was still here.

"I see you've found your treasure, Detective~" The voice was low, and he'd place the man somewhere around late twenties to early thirties.

"Come out now, Viridian. We've got the place surrounded—you've nowhere to run."

"That's what _you_ think. Now, lemme just clarify something before you come after me with guns blazing." The man sounded more _amused_ than anything else, and no matter how hard Tsukauchi looked, he couldn't see any sign of the man that was speaking.

"Those men down there? They came here earlier tonight for a drug trade." Viridian continued. "It's actually why I kept you occupied all night. Can't have any of you in the line of fire for _this,_ after all." From the shadows of the rafters, a single briefcase fell to the floor. One trigger-happy cop fired at where the case had fallen from, and a pained grunt followed. "Ow. Jerk."

"Hold your fire." Tsukauchi ordered. "We don't want him dead."

"So nice to know you _care_, Tsukauchi." Viridian chuckled as a few drops of blood fell onto the briefcase.

_Evidence. We can run the blood through the system to figure out who he is._ Tsukauchi quickly gathered what he could. All the while, the vigilante chuckled.

"Gather whatever you want—it'll bring you nowhere. I promise you, detective, you won't find me that way~ But A+ for effort!"

"You said you wanted to keep us away from here. Why?" Midnight pressed.

"Because of what's in that briefcase. I may be a vigilante, but I _love_ heroes. You guys are my idols, even if I couldn't become one, myself." Tsukauchi heard the truth in that. "If you were hit by one of those, it would've ended your career."

"What is it?" Tsukauchi asked, eyeing the bluish substance in the tubes.

"A drug that severely damages—and in some cases completely destroys—your Quirk Factor." The room stopped breathing. "As far as I know, these are the only ones in existence right now. And they take a good hour to do any permanent damage. If you work fast, you can find a way to counteract it just in case I missed some."

"You ran us around the city so there'd be no risk of someone getting hit with this?" Midnight asked.

"Yep."

"And it was any less dangerous for you, because?"

"Ah ah ah~ I'm not revealing _all_ my secrets, detective. Let's just say that I've got defenses against that that none of you have."

"He's telling the truth." Tsukauchi ground out. As much as he hated to admit it, this guy was really looking out for them tonight. He was honestly trying to protect them.

"Well, as much as I'd _love_ to stay and chat, I've got to get this lovely gunshot wound your man gave me treated before it gets much worse. So I'll see you later~ And since we've finally met in person, I'll just call you Naomasa, kay?"

"_No_, you _cannot_ call me by my given name!" Tsukauchi growled, but there was no response.

That night, Viridian escaped, and none of them could figure out how. They'd found a blood-soaked beam in the rafters where he'd been shot, and presumably where he'd been talking from, but the blood trail ended pretty quickly.

Nobody was admitted to a hospital with a gunshot wound that night or within the next few days that matched what little description they had, and though he wouldn't admit it, Tsukauchi was actually a little relieved when the vigilante showed up on patrol again three days later.

He wasn't about to forgive him for that hellish night of _treasure hunting_, but he realized that this guy was closer to a hero than a villain. Perhaps it was finally time to call in Eraserhead.

* * *

**_MoldiBroccli: Guys! Have you heard?! Viridian's on The List ™! _**

**_Demonic-gay-microwave: uh… list? _**

**_Ihavenoname: They mean the Vigilante list. Basically, it means that Viridian is now a legally recognized vigilante. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: Yeah! It's so cool!_**

**_Barbieisawhore: How's that cool? I thought u liked him?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: It's cool b/c it means that he's doing good._**

**_Noiscardily: Right, because he's capturing a lot of villains, he's making them look bad, so they wanna catch him sooner. He's climbing the vigilante ranks pretty fast, actually. Notably good at hiding himself, he hasn't been spotted yet. _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: That's neat. Hey, sorry to change the topic, but have any of you got the new Animal Crossing?_**

**_Ihavenoname: YEAH! It's so cool!_**


	3. Chapter 3: Eraserhead

**_A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a bit. Things are getting a little crazy at work. _**

**_Quick thing. I know shit's really hitting the fan worldwide with this whole Coronavirus thing, and I wanted to let you guys know to stay safe. I'm thinking of all of you. The state I live in (California) just declared a State of Emergency, and they've found 8 cases in my county thus far. (And literally EVERYONE is buying toilet paper, for some odd reason. Like, every single store, Walmart, and Costco is sold out. like, wtf? Why toilet paper. As far as I know explosive defecation is not a symptom.) _**

**_Hope you all stay safe, wash your hands for 20 seconds under HOT water (100 Degrees F) and use hand sanitizer that's minimum 60% alcohol. Don't touch your face, and stay 6 ft away from people. You know, live like an introvert (or Eraserhead). _**

**_This chapter is dedicated to everyone who's struggling with current world events. I hope you all stay safe and healthy, and that for those of you under quarantine or lock-down this chapter helps relieve some boredom. _**

* * *

**_Chapter 3: Eraserhead_**

Izuku sighed as he casually strolled through the back alleyways leading to Dagoba. He'd already gotten into a few smaller fistfights with the local homeless thugs who'd been trying to sleep on _his_ beach. He'd been homeless enough times in the First Run—how he'd started referring to his original timeline—that he understood the importance of protecting your territory. If he just let any old homeless beggar sleep on his beach, then he'd find himself dead fairly quickly. Or they'd take his stuff, which could lead him to death.

Either way, there wasn't much trust amongst the homeless. He couldn't afford to be nice. Especially when any little injury had a fairly high risk of getting infected and putting him out of commission. That was something he _could not_ afford. He _had_ to get into U.A.—no ands ifs or buts.

His unwanted neighbors—those who slept in the alleyways and parks surrounding the beach—were learning fairly quickly not to mess with the seemingly defenseless child.

And after last week's incident where he coolly stared down a beggar with a gun, well… let's just say that he was not only earning their respect but their fear, too. He didn't mind—so long as they left him alone.

He was now officially out of money, though. He'd made it last as long as he could, but it wasn't like he had any income. He'd gotten lucky with those chocolate coins in the treasure hunting gig he pulled—but what else was he supposed to do after winning a year's supply of chocolate coins? He sure as hell couldn't eat all that!

Besides, the recording of Naomasa losing his shit was priceless and still made him chuckle. Ah~ one day, he and the detective would look back on that video and laugh.

Probably.

But his most pressing issue now was food. He was able to shower at the local gym—the locks were dreadfully easy to pick—and he'd five-finger discounted all the hygiene items he'd needed. He did the same with light snacks and the like, but he felt bad stealing like that.

Water was easy enough to come by—the parks had plenty of water fountains that he could rehydrate at. Plus the dented hydroflask he'd found in his dump was perfect after he'd bleached it out. Seriously, the previous owner had somehow grown mold and decided to toss it thereafter. It just needed a good soak in bleach and hot water. People were so lazy these days!

Oh well, more for him.

But he couldn't keep stealing loafs of bread like some discount Aladdin. He needed to actually find a way to _buy_ food. Actual groceries and stuff. He couldn't survive off bread and jerky forever. Especially since he was still recovering from his near-starvation in the apocalypse, _and_ all his vigilante activities.

He couldn't get a job, though. He had to be at _least_ 15 to work at any real establishment, and even then he had to have his school's permission. No way Aldera would grant him that. Never mind the fact that he was Quirkless, he'd have to pay _them_ to hire him.

So getting a job was out. He briefly considered Chisaki, but quickly shuddered. No. _Hell_ no. He'd worked under the guy _once_, and swore to never make the same mistake again.

So where did that leave him? Food from the shelters? No, too many questions. Homeless adults were one thing, but a homeless kid with no parental supervision? He'd get CPS called on his ass faster than he could outrun Tsukauchi.

And Izuku did _not_ want to get chucked into the system _or_ be sent back to his mother. Besides, the food banks required you to register yourself, which included a Quirk—something that would instantly disqualify him, as he'd learned from experience.

Fucking Quirkless Discrimination.

"Whelp… what do ya think, Shou?" He turned to look at an old photo he'd found at the bottom of his bag. It'd been taken within the first few years of the apocalypse. Shouta stood, a hand on Izuku's shoulder as Hizashi had an arm flung around the both of them. Nemuri stood on Izuku's other side, ruffling his hair. Power Loader stood in the background, smiling fondly beside Dabi and Tamaki.

Good _Time_, he missed his family.

Tears pricked the edges of his eye as he looked away. "I know… I know… I'm being stupid." He chuckled humorlessly to himself. "I dunno, guys… maybe it's the hunger talking? At any rate, I'm open to suggestions."

_Silence_.

He scuffed his foot against the carpet of the camper. It was _too_ quiet. He couldn't take the quiet any longer. Abruptly, he stood. "Okay." He clapped his hands. "Since the food issue is too much for me right now, let's just… erm… do something else!"

He glanced out the window where the late afternoon sun shone through. "It's too early for patrol." He pouted. "Buuut…." He reached over and pulled out the laptop he'd salvaged from the dump.

Well… _salvaged_ was a bit of a stretch, considering the fact that he'd practically built the damn thing from scratch. He booted it up. He grinned as he played some music. "Let's get hacking, then."

* * *

Viridian had just finished tying up some unsavory thugs. One man glared at him, and he chuckled. This guy's glare had _nothing_ on Shigaraki. He'd never really been concerned about villains seeing him. Or heroes or cops, for that matter. It was more of a _game_, really. He wanted to see how long he could go before they sighted him. So far, it'd been four months, and no hero or cop had actually laid eyes on him.

"So _you're_ that fucking Viridian guy."

"Yep." He smirked.

"You're shitting me! _You're_ Japan's most elusive Vigilante?!" Another guy scoffed.

"Oh, so I'm the _most_ elusive now? I got an upgrade!" He grinned, waiting for the telltale sound of sirens in the distance. He paused, sensing something else.

Quick as a shadow and quiet as snow, he ducked out of the sights of the villains as he scaled the side of the alleyway before perching atop the roof. Not a moment later a _very_ familiar figure entered the alleyway. _Shouta…_ He blinked back tears, ducking behind the ledge so as not to be seen.

_Viridian ducked behind the edge of the alleyway just as a man rounded the corner. He had a strange scarf wrapped around his neck that seemed to hide something yellow, and was dressed in black. The messy unkempt hair and perpetually exhausted look lead him to believe that this was the hero Eraserhead—famous among vigilantes. The man was rumored to be sharp and quick, so he had to get out of there before he—_

_"Who's there?!" Eraserhead demanded as he immediately ran towards Viridian's hiding spot. _

Shit!_ Viridian quickly climbed the fire escape just as the man found him. He felt something wrap around his left ankle and yank him down to street level. "Aw, come on! That's cheating! I thought you had a _normal_ scarf!" Viridian complained. He didn't care that it made him look childish—he'd had a very long night. Before he had much more time to complain, the man had him wrapped tightly and securely in the bindings. _

_"Who are you?" _

_"Viridian." _

_"So you're that vigilante? Huh. You're shorter than I expected."_

_"Well, _excuse me_ for growing up neglected and half-starved! Not my fault my growth was stunted." _

_"I'm going to have to take you back to the station." _

_"For what?! I haven't broken any laws." Viridian huffed. He tried to cross his arms, but the scarf was too tight, so he settled for a pouting look. _

_"Nice try, kid, but—"_

_"I'm an adult, I'll have you know!" _

_"You're a kid to me." Eraserhead glared. "Vigilantism is a crime. So I'm placing you under arrest." _

_"You have no proof that I used a Quirk. Vigilantism is defined as a person who uses their Quirk illegally to take down crime." _

_"I've got a friend that can help me with that." He yanked on the scarf, making Viridian stumble after him. "Now come on—you're wasting my time. I want to sleep tonight, thanks."_

_Viridian was glad—not for the first time—that he was a paranoid bastard. He waited until Eraserhead turned away to lead him from the alleyway before he grinned. He slipped off the caps he kept on his canines, revealing very sharp fangs. _

_Years ago, he'd asked a good friend who had a transmutation Quirk and happened to be a dentist, to file down his teeth into fangs (just the canines) and reinforce them with the strongest metal he could. The guy happened to owe Izuku a favor, so he did so without raising a fuss (though he did charge him a small fortune). _

_Now, Viridian was very grateful for this decision as he silently tore through the bindings with said fangs. _

_Eraserhead looked behind him just in time to see Viridian disappear over the rooftop. He cursed._

Viridian shook himself out of his flashback, tongue absently running over the exposed fangs (he figured he should keep them out as Viridian and hide them as Izuku). He hadn't realized how _hard_ this would be. He wanted nothing more than to jump down into that alleyway and hug him. But… _He doesn't know you. You're nothing but a vigilante to him… he's not Shouta—he's Eraserhead. They aren't the same person, now._ He took a deep breath. Luckily, he'd had a few weeks of experience with Nemuri, so this was a_ lot_ easier than it would've been without.

He shook his head and looked back over the edge, watching as Eraserhead scoured the area for him. Viridian barely dodged out of sight as Eraserhead looked up, and he heard the Capture Weapon wrapping around the nearby fire escape.

Well, Viridian had no intentions of replicating how they met in the original timeline. He wasted no time in making his own escape. He leapt over rooftops with as much grace and practice as the man behind him. Eraserhead was fast, but Viridian had had plenty of practice running across rooftops while trying to outrun dangerous and _hungry_ monsters. Compared to that, this was a leisurely jog.

He locked eyes with Eraserhead over his shoulder as he finally shook him off his tail.

That made Eraserhead the first person to actually _see_ him. Naomasa was going to flip his shit. But first…

He smirked, knowing that Eraserhead would still be looking for him. Now that he'd had a breather to calm down and really process his situation, he found himself giddy. He knew how to get under Aizawa Shouta's skin like _nobody_ else, and he was going to have fun this go around (okay, so maybe he was a _little_ bitter at how the man had captured him in the original timeline).

**_ViridianChaos: Hello Eraserhead. Nice night we're having!_**

**_Watson: How the hell did you get this number? _**

**_ViridianChaos: I have my ways. _**

**_Watson changed their name to Eraserhead_**

**_ViridianChaos added DetectiveHolmes to the chat_**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Viridian. What are you up to now? _**

**_Eraserhead: You mean he does this a lot? _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: More than you know. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I just thought you'd be happy to know that Eraserhead here is the first person to officially see me~! _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: You're shitting me! You really saw him!?_**

**_Eraserhead: Yeah. He's shorter than I expected. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Hey! That's mean! I'll have you know my growth was stunted due to a neglectful childhood and malnutrition! _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Mind giving us a name? _**

**_ViridianChaos: Viridian~ ;) _**

**_Eraserhead: Perhaps something more to go on? Like an age or birthdate?_**

**_ViridianChaos: How about no? Look, I'm a vigilante, not stupid. I text you guys to mess with you because I'm _bored_. There're no villains out tonight, so I'm talking with you instead. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Eraserhead, I hear your sigh from over here. I left you some coffee three rooftops to your left. The bags under your eyes tell me you need it. _**

He watched with a low chuckle as the hero immediately headed to said location only to find a bag of his _favorite_ coffee grounds from his favorite café. The hero's head whipped around, startled. He growled when he couldn't find the vigilante.

**_Eraserhead: How the _hell_ did you know my favorite coffee?! _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: He has his ways. He knows everyone's favorite coffee, snack, sandwich and doughnut. I have no idea how he does it, but he does. _**

**_Eraserhead: I'm going to lose a lot of sleep over you, aren't I? _**

**_ViridianChaos: Yep! :D_**

* * *

Izuku chuckled as he checked the 'group chat' that he'd created. It had himself, Naomasa, and Eraserhead. He'd probably add Present Mic eventually. Possibly Midnight.

The U.A. Entrance exams were steadily creeping up, and Izuku had _reluctantly_ kept attending Aldera Jr. High. He _could_ just hack the system and leave U.A. none the wiser, but he'd heard stories of Nezu's intelligence—that was one basket of hornets he did _not_ want to poke.

It was easier for him to simply stay in school, patrol at night, and sleep in his refurbished camper whenever he had the chance. It wasn't like the schoolwork was _hard_, either. But Bakugo was a fucking pain in his ass.

It wasn't that the brat was strong or intimidating to him (anymore). But Izuku had once physically defended himself against Bakugo, only for _Izuku_ to nearly be suspended for _defending himself_. He couldn't risk a mark on his record. He _had_ to get into U.A. No matter what.

So as much as he hated it, he had to suck it up and take Bakugo's shit. Though he tossed his own verbal remarks right back at the little brat, causing the blond to blink in angered shock every time (which was rather entertaining). _Especially_ when Izuku tossed in some profanity (when the teachers couldn't hear, of course). It actually made things somewhat interesting for him, as he had to find new and creative ways to outmaneuver Bakugo so he didn't get beat up after school. (Besides—Izuku wasn't known for his fighting skills, so that was just another thing to separate Izuku from Viridian.)

By the six-month mark, Viridian had been listed as one of the most wanted vigilantes in all of Japan. Not because he was that _dangerous_ (he was, but they didn't need to know that), but because he was just that difficult to catch. And even after six months, the only people who he'd let see him were Eraserhead and Naomasa. There was once or twice where he'd let his silhouette be spotted on a rooftop, but Naomasa and Eraserhead were the only two he'd actually let fully see him in person (aside from the people he'd rescued and villains).

He'd done some work in a few other towns, too, deciding to branch out to search for any sign of the League of Villains. Even in Tokyo—which had some of Japan's most prevalent and talented Heroes—nobody had really gotten a good look at him, let alone gotten close enough to catch him.

But now, he was back in Musutafu. He grinned at the thought of Tsukauchi and Eraserhead. They still had no idea that the guy they were chasing was a now 15-year-old middle-schooler who didn't even _have_ a Quirk.

He still left puzzles, riddles, and other games for his favorite detective and hero to solve whenever he had the chance. It ticked them both off, but he could tell he was growing on them.

* * *

Aizawa Shouta honestly wasn't sure what to make of the newest vigilante, Viridian. The man was more elusive than smoke, and more annoying than Hizashi (something he wasn't sure was possible until he met Viridian). Somehow, though, the man was growing on him (like a fungus. An unwanted, irritating, disgusting fungus). Even after all these months (they were going on month 6, now, since Viridian started his vigilante career), they knew next to nothing about the man, and it was incredibly frustrating.

They'd had a nice break these last few weeks where Viridian had been bothering the heroes and police in other cities (mostly Tokyo and Kyoto). The man was infuriatingly good at slipping away. Not a single hero had gotten close enough to even _see_ him, let alone capture him.

That meant that he and Tsukauchi were still the only people who'd had the _honor_ of seeing the man in the flesh.

He scowled at his phone in his pocket when it quietly vibrated, letting him know that the very irritation he'd been thinking of was also thinking of him. Wonderful.

**_ViridianChaos: Eraser~ What's up?_**

**_Eraserhead: Viridian. _**

**_ViridianChaos: You're no fun! _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Any reason you two decided to distract me from my paperwork with this? _**

**_Eraserhead: You could just silence the chat._**

**_DetectiveHolmes: …_**

**_ViridianChaos: Oh this is rich! You don't know how! Hahahahaha! You're such an old man! ;) _**

Shouta had to admit, the fact that the detective didn't know how to silence the chat _was_ kind of funny. Though he'd never tell Viridian that. Ever.

**_Eraserhead: Was there a reason why you contacted me? _**

**_ViridianChaos: Oh yeah! Wanted to let you know I'm back in town. :)_**

**_Eraserhead: Damn. Here I thought I'd have a longer vacation. _**

**_ViridianChaos: You know you love me~ _**

**_Eraserhead: Love? I think you misspelled loathe. _**

**_ViridianChaos: :P Don't be a grouch, you tsundere! By the by, you've got that drug bust tonight, right? _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: I don't know why I even question how you know so much anymore. Yes, Eraserhead and I have a drug bust tonight. Why? _**

**_ViridianChaos: Don't go. It's a setup. They know you're coming—you'll get hurt. _**

Eraserhead stared at the phone for a full minute. This… was _not_ what he was expecting.

**_Eraserhead: Do you have any evidence to back up your claim?_**

**_ViridianChaos: Nothing physical. I overheard a few things, and now I'm seriously worried about you guys. _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: That's cute, but we've got jobs to do. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I mean it, Naomasa! Don't go. You too, Shouta!_**

Eraserhead stiffened at his given name. How the _hell_ had this guy gotten his _civilian name_?!

**_Eraserhead: I did not give you permission to call me by my name._**

**_ViridianChaos: Sorry, Aizawa. Is that better? _**

**_Eraserhead: No. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Too bad. :P Either way, don't go. _**

**_Eraserhead: Sorry, but we've got a drug ring to bust. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Eraserhead?!_**

**_ViridianChaos: Aizawa?_**

**_ViridianChaos: Shouta? Damnit, Shou, you'd better make it out of there alive. You too, Naomasa. _**

Shouta would admit that he was a bit bothered by the way this man was using their given names so freely, but he didn't have much time to worry. They both needed to be at the top of their game for the bust tonight.

* * *

Twenty minutes into said bust, and he was cursing himself for not listening to Viridian. Here he was, Tsukauchi at his side, held at gunpoint (and Quirkpoint) by twenty armed men. He'd been right—it was a trap. A trap set up to capture a hero and take out as many cops as they could.

Nearly all the men Tsukauchi had brought with him were dead or too injured to do anything. Shouta's Capture Weapon was confiscated, as were his knives and the detective's gun. They were defenseless, and Shouta was cursing himself internally.

He didn't see how this situation could get much worse.

"An interesting little catch, we've made." The man grinned as he looked at the hero-detective duo that was tied up to a nearby support pillar in the warehouse. The man then turned to some of his men, barking at them to watch their prisoners before gathering the drugs they'd originally come to take.

Shouta glared at the man, but didn't activate his Quirk. Erasing this man's Quirk wouldn't help him or Tsukauchi get out of their literal bind—if anything, they'd just blindfold him and then he'd be _completely_ useless.

"Any ideas how to get us out of this, Eraser?" Tsukauchi whispered through bloodied teeth. Shouta grimaced at the taste of blood in his own mouth.

"Nothing yet." He bit back a groan at his screaming ribs. He'd taken a rather nasty blow to his torso earlier that'd sent him flying into the detective. They were both injured rather nicely, with nothing to show for their pain.

He saw something moving quickly through the shadows, but brushed it off as a trick of the light. Or possibly a concussion. He eyed the table that held their weapons on the far side of the room. _If only we could get our stuff…_

Shouta blinked. Once, twice. No, he was sure his Capture Weapon had been there a moment ago. But suddenly, the familiar fabric was missing from the table. His eyes darted around the room as he tried to find who may have taken it.

Tsukauchi nudged him gently and discreetly gestured for Shouta to look up. There, in the rafters was a small dark figure. They were crouched, and Shouta easily recognized the scarf-like outline of his Capture Weapon. He _prayed_ that this was another Hero that'd come to back them up. Before he could do much else, the figure dashed almost too quickly to follow. They threw out his Capture Weapon with an ease and grace that took Shouta _years_ to achieve.

_What the?!_ Nobody could use his Capture Weapon like him. He'd made sure of that when he'd asked the Support Course to design it while he was still a teenager. But here this _stranger_ was, using it like they'd been training with it for decades. _Who the hell are you?_

One by one, the grunts were quietly hoisted up into the rafters and silenced without drawing attention. It was masterfully done, and Shouta found himself admiring their technique.

"Hm? Hey, Garou, where's the…?" One of the men stopped and looked around. "Hey, where'd everybody—" He was quickly cut off as the figure threw down a smoke bomb, alerting the rest of the room to their presence. They then jumped down from the rafters and vanished into the thick haze.

"Stay still and stay calm." He heard a voice whisper from behind him.

"Viridian? What are you doing here?" Tsukauchi whispered back. Shouta jolted. _This _was Viridian? The most elusive vigilante in Japan was right behind him, and he couldn't do anything.

"Saving your asses, what does it look like? I _told_ you not to come."

Shouta felt the bindings around his hands fall away and the familiar fabric of his Capture Weapon grace his hand. Judging from the look on the detective's face, the man must've also freed Tsukauchi and returned his weapon.

"You're one crazy vigilante, you know that? Most of you guys would celebrate this situation." Tsukauchi hummed as he flicked the safety off of his gun.

"You don't hear _me_ complaining." Shouta huffed, readying himself for the attack. _But how the hell did Viridian learn to use **my** Capture Weapon?_ Shouta wondered to himself.

"I'm not like most vigilantes."

"Yeah, we've noticed." Tsukauchi smirked as the three of them ran into the dissipating smoke. Shouta was used to fighting with low visibility, and it seemed that Viridian was, too. The two of them managed to take out the remaining men just as the smoke completely vanished.

The Vigilante, Detective, and Hero all shared an uneasy and awkward look.

"I suppose we owe you a thanks." Tsukauchi had a sour look on his face as he said it.

Shouta realized that this was the first time they'd really gotten a proper look at the vigilante. He was… a lot shorter than Shouta thought he'd be. He was decked out in what looked like a ninja costume, complete with a short sword strapped to his back, and had brilliant emerald green eyes that shone like gemstones.

He opened his mouth to say something, when the man's bright green eyes widened in fear. He shoved Shouta aside roughly just as a loud **_BANG_** echoed around the warehouse. Tsukauchi reacted quickly, firing off his own shot, killing the leader of the gang who'd shot at them.

A wet cough made Shouta's eyes widen as he realized what occurred. "Hey! Viridian!" He caught the (probably) older man as he staggered. He was bleeding heavily from his chest, where the bullet got him. _He took a bullet for me…_ Shouta realized. _That would've killed me. _

"I'll be fine."

"No, we need to get you to a hospital." Tsukauchi quickly balled up some fabric and pressed it against the vigilante's wound.

Viridian chuckled. "As much as I appreciate the concern, I've dealt with worse before. Besides, it's not as bad as it looks."

Before Shouta or Tsukauchi could do anything, Viridian roughly shoved them both away. "I'll text you guys tomorrow so you know I'm not dead." He winked before escaping out the window faster than either of them could give chase, leaving the two staring dumbfounded after him.

They'd never admit just how grateful and relieved they were when Viridian texted them the next morning.

* * *

Viridian laughed as he leapt across the rooftops like some old-school comic book hero. He'd been leading around his favorite hero and detective duo all night. Again. He'd been a little off his game when he'd started this vigilante work again seven months ago, but now he was back in full swing, and ready to go!

He'd been following any little whisper of the League of Villains. Maybe, if he could find Shigaraki, he could kill the bastard before ever taking the U.A. exams! Crisis would be averted and the USJ incident wouldn't even happen.

Then, they'd just need to worry about All for One, but that was really more of All Might's major problem anyhow. At the very least, All for One wasn't about to bring about the end of humanity as they knew it—at worst he'd forcefully take over Japan as a dictator again. But even that would be better than what _he'd_ already lived through.

He smirked as he landed down in an alleyway. This was their reward for all the crap they'd gone through—he knew his little games were beyond annoying, but they entertained him. Besides, at least he was helping them rather than hurting them. His games were usually to protect them, anyhow.

Viridian was _finally_ going to let Detective Tsukauchi have a face-to-face conversation with him. (The warehouse didn't count, because that was more battle-banter than an actual conversation).

Well, it was also a thank-you for worrying about him. After he'd been shot a few weeks ago, he'd proceeded to return home, fix himself up, and pass out.

And _damn_ they'd blown up their group chat while he'd been taking his little power nap. Izuku had been so touched when he'd awoken to fifty worried notifications, and had quickly replied to let them know he was alive and well.

Or as well as one can be when they were shot the night before a major exam. Bakugo had been _hell_ to avoid that next day.

The two warily stepped into the alleyway. He'd been careful to stay under the radar for the last few weeks (mostly due to his recovering injury). Viridian's note had explicitly told them to show up _alone_, no other cops. He smirked as he stepped out of the shadows, a tray of coffee cups in his hand.

"Naomasa. Aizawa. Good to see you two again." He smiled, though they could only see his bright green eyes.

The two gave barely-noticeable sighs of relief. "Glad to see you're alive. How's your injury?" Tsukauchi asked.

"It's doing much better, now. Thanks for asking." Viridian grinned. Tsukauchi nodded to Eraserhead, acknowledging the truth of the statement.

"Why did you lead us here?" Eraserhead asked.

"I got bored, and thought that, after the games I've put you two through, the least I owed you was a face-to-face conversation." He shrugged, leaning against the brick wall casually. "Plus, I figured you were still worried about the whole gunshot thing."

He handed over the coffee, to which the hero and detective didn't even blink. Eraserhead quickly started drinking his.

"You _do_ realize that we have a legal obligation to arrest you, right?" Tsukauchi asked in disbelief.

"Yep. But not tonight. I'm simply here to talk for as long as you want, but the moment you make a move to arrest me, I'm gone. So if you've got any burning questions, ask them now." He knew his green eyes were sparkling with amusement, because Eraserhead scowled.

"Who are you?" Eraserhead growled.

"I am Viridian."

"Your _real_ name."

"Something you'll have to figure out on your own—good luck with that, though."

"How old are you?" Tsukauchi asked.

"Somewhere between the ages of six and fifty." He smirked.

"Are you Japanese?"

"Yes." They blinked at the straightforward answer. "Born and raised."

"Why are you a vigilante?" Tsukauchi asked again.

"Hm… Tough question, detective." He tapped his chin for a moment as he thought. "I suppose… I've always wanted to be a hero. But I failed every Hero School Entrance exam I took as a young teenager. I tried to live a normal, boring life, but…" He looked off for a moment. "I can't help but want to help people. I just can't _not_ help them. And if I have to do so as a vigilante instead of a hero, then at least I'm still helping others. At least I'm still saving lives."

"He's telling the truth." Tsukauchi blinked incredulously.

"What, is that uncommon for vigilantes?" Viridian tilted his head, confused.

"Most of the ones I've met just want to use their Quirks in public." Tsukauchi shook his head.

"Well, then, Mr. Lie Detector, let me let you in on a little secret~" He chuckled again, a grin spreading across his face. "I, Viridian, have _never_ used a Quirk during my vigilante activities."

"Y-you're shitting me. Tell me he's lying." Eraserhead choked.

"I… He's telling the truth."

"D-doesn't that mean…?" Eraserhead looked like he wanted to bash his head against the brick wall.

"We can still get you for assault." Tsukauchi glared.

"Ah, ah, ah~ Section 24 subsection C states that assault charges are valid only when the accused party struck first. I _always_ let my enemies strike first, even if said strike doesn't hit. You can ask _any single one_ of the villains I've turned in to you."

"Then…"

"By the law, I've done _nothing illegal_." Viridian laughed lowly. _Besides, the laws technically don't even affect a Quirkless person. Even child custody laws don't matter. That's why Tsunogami-chan's son was put in the foster care system, even though she was alive, able, and had stable income. After her husband died, she was invisible to the law, and her son was taken away. _He clenched a fist in anger, making a mental note to keep her husband from dying this go around, before taking a deep breath. "You legally can't arrest me."

"I'm so fucking done." Eraserhead leaned against the brick wall next to him.

"Come, now, Eraserhead, don't be like that. And here I've come with an opportunity for you both." The two men stiffened.

"Opportunity?"

"Yes. Now that we've established that, while I'm a vigilante—sort of—I'm not _technically_ doing anything illegal, I'd like to extend an offer of alliance with the two of you. Namely, I know a lot of things that go around—I've got an extensive information network. I can provide you with information. Be your eyes and ears beyond the police and Hero networks. I'll be your grey area."

"You realize that we can't actually do that, right?" Tsukauchi didn't look impressed.

"Unless under extenuating circumstances." Viridian nodded. "But fortunately for me, these are." He tossed a folder at Tsukauchi's feet, and the man warily bent down to pick it up. His eyes went wide as he flipped through it.

"This case has been cold for _weeks_."

"I've been looking into it for you. I'm 98% sure that's where they're keeping the missing children." He locked eyes with the two. "Look. I'm not asking you to trust me. I'm not asking you to _like_ me. But the three of us have one thing in common—we want to _save lives_. And if I can help you do so, then why would you throw me away?" He shoved his hands in his pocket. "You know how to get a hold of me. Think about my offer, and shoot me a text if you want my help on anything. I also gave you my burner phone's number if you feel like dropping me a call—though I usually don't answer those. Just a warning." He glanced at the two.

"And for your own peace of mind, detective, I have no intentions of hurting you, your men, or any heroes. Eraserhead, I don't mean you, your students—if you _have _any this year—or your coworkers any harm. If anything, I just want to protect everyone I can."

"What do you want in return?" Eraserhead's eyes narrowed.

He hesitated for a moment. "There's a man I'm after. His name is Shigaraki Tomura. If you find his information, please let me know. He's about as nasty a villain as they come. I don't want him to kill anyone else."

"You know we can't—"

"Fine." Eraserhead cut off Tsukauchi mid-sentence.

"Eraserhead, what do you mean, '_fine'_?!"

"If you really mean what you say, and you help us save people, then we'll keep our ears open for any tell of this 'Shigaraki Tomura' person."

"Thank you." With that, Viridian vanished into the night.

* * *

Tsukauchi Naomasa smiled softly as he reunited the last missing child with their family. Viridian's information had been right on the money, and the vigilante himself had shown up and kept the kids safe until police arrived. He was starting to think that this offer might not be such a bad thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't a call he was allowed to make.

"You called?" Tsuragamae stepped into his office, nose likely picking up on Viridian's unfamiliar scent. The dog-headed man kept a steady gaze on his subordinate.

"Yes, sir. It's about Viridian." Naomasa sighed as he gestured for his boss to close the door behind him.

It took an hour and a half to fully explain the situation, along with the new information that the vigilante had never once used his Quirk during his nightly activities.

The police chief sat for a very long time, thinking over the information that the detective had provided him with. "This is quite the conundrum." He hummed.

"Should we work with him, sir? The information he provided to me is what got those thirty-six children home safely."

"Well, it's not like trying to capture him has gotten anyone anywhere." He sighed as he scratched the back of his ear. "All right. Any information he shares with you is shared with me. That is your condition. And I would like to meet with him, myself."

Naomasa smiled in relief. "I'll arrange the meeting."

* * *

**_MoldiBroccli: Guys! Viridian's got a webpage, now!_**

**_Ihavenoname: Yeah, I saw. Apparently, he's getting really popular. Nobody's really seen him aside from the people he's rescued or arrested._**

**_DragoninaDress: There r some pics online, now, tho. Looks like a ninja._**

**_Noiscardily: I actually found some Viridian merch at my local hero store today. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: what?! I must haVE IT!_**

**_ForsakenEmoBoi: Isn't he just a vigilante, though? I mean, why would a VIGILANTE have merch?_**

**_Noiscardily: No idea. Maybe someone mistook him for a hero? Hold on, I'll send a pic. _**

**_Noiscardily: viridian_ _**

**_MoldiBroccli: Wow! It's his vigilante outfit! _**

**_ForsakenEmoBoi: How do you know that? It looks just like a halloween costume to me?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: He saved me once, a few months ago. I saw Viridian in action, and it was SO COOL! _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I saw him, too. _**

**_DragoninaDress: How do you know he didn't just buy his vigilante outfit from that same costume store? -_-_**

**_MoldiBroccli: You DID?!_**

**_DragoninaDress: Aaaaand I'm ignored. Cool._**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Yeah. I was kidnapped a while back and was held with a bunch of other kids. We really thought we were going to die, but Viridian came by and saved our asses before they could kill us or ship us off somewhere. The police came in just ten minutes or so later. I think he tipped off the cops, because they sure as hell didn't find us on their own. Either way, I owe Viridian my life. I think my whole family's a Viridian supporter, now. :3 _**

**_MoldiBroccli: Yes! Our cult is growing! :3_**

**_DragoninaDress: Cult?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: The Cult of Viridian, duh. _**

**_Noiscardily: *Sigh* _**

**_Noiscardily has changed the chat name to 'Cult of Viridian' _**

**_MoldiBroccli: YES! THANK YOU NOI!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I'm gonna logout. My bro's callin' me for dinner. Bye._**

Kenji scratched his head, blowing the black bangs out of his eyes irritably. Maybe he should spike up his hair? It'd probably look cool. He sighed as he closed out of the chat.

"Kenji! Dinner!" His brother poked his head into his bedroom. "C'mon, bro! You've been glued to that computer for _hours_. Aren't you hungry?"

"Sorry… I just… wanted to…"

"Looking up stuff about Viridian again?" Eijiro grinned easily. "He's so manly!"

"I know! Everyone's talking about him, and since there're only about six photos and videos of him online, some people have taken to drawing him based off descriptions of his rescues!" Kenji bounced in his chair like the excitable twelve-year-old he was.

"He's _really_ getting popular, isn't he?" Eijiro tilted his head.

"Yeah! He's got a fanpage, now, too. There's several _thousand_ members, and it's growing by the day."

"For a guy without a license and no calling card, he's really getting a lot of attention."

"That's because he helps the people that really need it." Kenji smiled. "He's even been seen patrolling Tokyo, Kyoto, Hosu and Musutafu! I heard a rumor that he patrols the South Side of Musutafu, too!"

"You mean the lawless area?" Eijiro winced. "Man, he's got guts to patrol there."

"You should've seen him…" Kenji became quiet as he remembered. "They were going to kill this one kid…" _They were going to kill me for protecting that girl…_ "but then Viridian appeared out of _no where_ and saved me." He missed his brother's flinch at the accidental slip.

_He shook as he stared down the barrel of the gun. So this was how he was going to die? He was only twelve… He didn't have a hardening Quirk like his brother. He couldn't stop the bullet that was aimed firmly between his eyes. Kenji heard the gun cock and several of the other kids whimpered. _

_He wouldn't be the first kid killed for stepping out of line, but he really hoped he'd be the last. He closed his eyes as he waited._

**_BANG!_**

_Suddenly, he realized that there was no pain. Was death really this painless? _

_"You okay, kid?" He opened his eyes and saw bright green staring back at him from what looked like a ninja mask. The man held him firmly in his arms, and…_

_"You… saved me?" _

_"Yep." The man grinned. "Name's Viridian. Don't worry. The police are almost here. It's over, kid. You're going to be just fine. All of you are." Viridian gently set him down on the ground. "You're safe. It's over. I'll protect you." _

_For the first time in his life, he felt like he understood why All Might said 'I am here'. When All Might rescued people, he said his catchphrase and you just _knew_ that you would be okay. _

_Viridian's words… 'I'll Protect You' sounded the same, in his ears. It rung with a surety and truth that nearly left him quaking in relief. Because now he knew that nothing would hurt him. He'd be safe. He _was_ safe. _

_And suddenly, as he watched Viridian take down the criminals that'd been their captors for the last two months, he realized something. _

_All Might was a symbol. A ward against evil and a mantra people chanted to make themselves feel safe. _

_But Viridian was more than that, somehow. He was… more concrete. More _real_. Viridian was his _Hero_._

"Kenji?" Eijiro's gentle voice shook him out of his flashback.

"S-sorry… just… remembering the rescue. Viridian was so cool." He smiled softly.

"No worries, bro." His brother came over and gently pulled him into a hug. "I'm just glad you're safe and home."

"Thanks, Eiji." He smiled into his older brother's shoulder.

"Eijiro! Kenji! If you boys don't get your butts down here, I'm going to let your father eat all the desert!"

"C'mon, best get down there before dad eats everything." Eijiro grinned, showing off sharp, shark-like teeth.

_I hope I meet Viridian again._


	4. Chapter 4: Opportunity

**_A/N: Alright guys! Shit's gettin real in regards to life here at home. Corona put California on a mandatory home-stay lockdown thing starting tonight. Unfortunately, both my workplaces fall under the 'takeout/delivery' category, I think, so I'll still be working. *Cries* I'm grateful that I CAN still work and that my jobs are still providing income, but... :( The opportunity to sit home and get paid for it for once... *Sighs* Well, nothing is ever easy, right? _**

**_Either way, I'm still planning to update as often as I can for everyone! Please stay safe! Stay indoors (be the little fanfic/anime hermits we all know we are inside! Hiss at the socialization!) and wash your hands often. I want to wish a belated happy birthday to Chi-chan and Kisa. I'm sorry that this was going on during your special days, and hope that next year is much better. _**

**_So with that said, please enjoy and I hope this relieves some boredom for everyone. _**

* * *

Izuku would admit that he wasn't expecting a phone call during his lunch break at school. Even less so from his vigilante phone (which, thankfully, he'd had the foresight to add the voice changer to).

"Hello?" He answered. It wasn't a number he was familiar with, and Naomasa and Eraserhead both knew to reach out through the group chat by now, but he'd only given this number to them.

"Hello. Viridian, yes?"

"Who's asking?"

"I am Tsuragamae Kenji, Musutafu Chief of Police." Oh, _shit_ he'd really attracted the higher up's attention this time.

"Tsuragamae-san!" He smirked, using a confident and laid-back tone. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Detective Tsukauchi has told me about your interesting proposition. I'm open to negotiation. Please come by the station at your earliest convenience."

"And how do I know you're not just going to arrest and unmask me?" Izuku raised an eyebrow, even though he knew the man couldn't see him. Though he wondered how he must look right now, sitting on the Jr. High rooftop holding a serious conversation with the Chief of Police (not that anyone would know that, unless they heard him call the man's name earlier).

"I assure you, we have no intentions of doing so."

"Bring in Eraserhead, and allow me to keep my weapons on me, and we'll talk."

He heard a very heavy sigh on the other line. "Very well."

"Great! Then I'll see you this afternoon."

Izuku shut the old flip-phone (ancient technology he'd salvaged from the scrap heap) and pocketed it again and turned around to go back inside before he was late to class, only to find Bakugo there.

"Hey, Deku! Who were you talkin' to? It's not like a useless Deku like you has any friends!" Bakugo shoved him roughly, and Izuku rolled his eyes as it failed to so much as make him stumble.

"Believe it or _not_, Baka-go, I actually _have_ a life. And it doesn't revolve around _you_." He nimbly dodged the explosive punch from the blond, hands in his pockets.

"Think you're so high-and-mighty just 'cause you've got good grades?! You still thinking you can be a fucking hero, Deku?!"

Izuku's expression darkened. "I know it's an impossible dream, asshat." He enjoyed the flinch from the blond. "But I'm working tooth and nail to make that dream a reality. I _will_ get into U.A. Just fucking _watch_ me. And as you watch me, remember that every time you've beaten me down… every time you've called me useless… every time you've tried to _crush my dreams_. I got back up. And I persevered. Because I _will_ become a goddamned hero, even if it fucking _kills_ me. Because unlike _you_ I don't do it for _me_. I do it for the people I can save." He then flipped over Bakugo and his cronies before casually making his way to class.

Neither Izuku nor Bakugo noticed the young winged hero that sat atop the roof, watching the scene unfold with an unreadable expression.

* * *

To say Viridian was nervous as he approached the police station in broad daylight in full vigilante gear was like saying a shark's bite was a _little_ nip.

He watched as several people on the street looked at him oddly, likely because he was dressed like a ninja.

One kid perked up and ran over to him, dodging his mother's hand as he ran.

"Hey! You're that cool new Hero everyone's talking about on the internet! Viridian, right?! Can I please have your autograph?!" Viridian blinked down at the kid, who looked no older than 7.

People _knew_ about him? Maybe he should take some time to browse the internet. He thought it was just the villains and police that knew him.

"I'm a vigilante, kid. Not a hero." He crossed his arms.

"No! You save people, which makes you a hero! You save _everyone_!" He argued stubbornly and held out his book expectantly. A few people whispered excitedly as they pulled out their phones. Damnit, he couldn't be an ass and just refuse, now. Viridian sighed before gesturing for the boy to hand it over, which he did with an excited grin.

"You wanna be a hero, kid?" He asked, and the boy nodded excitedly.

"Yeah! My Quirk lets me climb _anything_!" He grinned. For a moment, Viridian saw a younger version of himself. An eager young boy who had dreams of being a hero. He could've been this kid, had he been blessed with a Quirk at four.

"I'm sure you'll make a great hero someday. Just don't use your Quirk out and about without a license, you hear?"

"Yeah!" He took the book back with a starry-eyed grin, which made Viridian uncomfortable. "Thank you, Viridian!" He smiled as he ran off.

Viridian stared after the boy for a moment before a familiar presence came up behind him.

"A little hypocritical of you." Eraserhead raised an eyebrow.

"I told him not to use his Quirk without a license. I have never broken that law." Viridian smirked back up at Eraserhead who shook his head fondly.

"You aren't much taller than him, you know."

"Seriously, don't call me little, damnit."

"I was just saying that you're a bit shor—"

"I'M NOT LITTLE!" He snapped, and the older man blinked in surprise for a moment before his hands moved in a placating manner.

"Geez, what're you, Edward Elric?"

"I'm. _Not._ Short." He growled out.

"Fine. Fine, you're perfectly average height for a man your age."

"Thank you." Viridian huffed as he stared at the station doors again.

"So… are we going to glare at the door all day, or are we going in for that meeting of yours? The one you _insisted_ I come along for?" He shot Viridian an unimpressed look.

"Because I know that you, at least, won't let them kill me if it comes down to it." _Plus, if worse comes to worse, I can always rip off my mask and reveal that I'm a fifteen-year-old brat and put 'em into shock that way while I make my escape. Then Shouta's sure to make sure they won't hurt me. _

"It's a meeting. Just how paranoid _are_ you?" He gave Viridian an incredulous look.

"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you." Viridian corrected as he headed inside, leaving the hero staring after him in mild concern.

The cops at the front desk eyed him warily. "Hi. I've got a meeting with Chief Tsuragamae. Name's Viridian." He gave them a shit-eating grin (even if they couldn't _see_ it, he knew they _felt_ it) as they paled drastically.

"You have too much fun messing with people." Eraserhead sighed, shaking his head.

"Think of it as training."

"_Training_? For what?"

"Ah, Viridian, there you are." Tsukauchi came around the corner, and Viridian grinned. "We were starting to worry that you wouldn't show."

"I had a few things to tie up before I came down." _Like school._

"Right. Follow me."

True to his word, Viridian was neither searched nor restrained. He was led to a comfortable looking break room with plenty of exits where Tsuragamae sat with a cup of coffee.

The vigilante graciously took a cup for himself, checking it thoroughly to make sure it wasn't tampered with, before he carefully pulled up his mask enough to drink some.

"I've heard a lot about you, Viridian. I must say that you are by far the most elusive vigilante we've ever had."

He shrugged as he pulled his mask back into place, so his voice changer would do its work. "I'm just an easy guy to miss. You've got good coffee, here. I was always told station coffee was shit."

"It usually is, which is why I always bring my own brew." Tsuragamae laughed.

"Ah, I should've figured as such."

"So, down to business. I understand you want a partnership with us."

"Yes. I want to help people. It's why I've always wanted to become a hero."

"Yet you're a vigilante instead?"

"No hero school would let me in. I failed all their exams." He worded his answers carefully. He knew that Tsukauchi was in here to act as a lie detector. If he told a lie, he'd alert his boss immediately.

"With your skills, that's hard to believe." He shook his head.

"I assure you, I was anything but skilled back then. I cried myself to sleep as a child when I realized my dreams were beyond my reach. Instead, I went to a trade school and tried making support items. But that wasn't enough. I needed to help people. So I became a vigilante to help more directly." He caught the subtle nod from Tsukauchi.

"What is it that you want from this… Shigaraki Tomura?"

"Tsuragamae-san, you must understand. I've seen him do some terrible things. Irreversible things. I can't tell you how I know this, but if he's left to run about, _countless lives_ will be lost."

"I…" Tsukauchi blinked in surprise. "I'm afraid you're going to have to be a tad more specific." Viridian knew that he was a little unnerved at his own Quirk's reaction. He imagined that he normally didn't get people who were that certain about future information.

"I've seen him kill people for no reason other than to sate his bloodlust—I've seen him murder mothers and leave their infants sobbing in their cold dead arms to _starve_. He's killed people very close to me, and I have reason to believe that he's planning something… _big_. As in, destroy the world as we know it, _big_."

"Anything more specific than _big_?" Tsuragamae's eyes narrowed.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a way to prove my theories to you at this time. Perhaps after we gather more information, I'll be able to explain more in-depth." The detective shuddered as he nodded to his boss, whose expression became grave.

"Well, then… I suppose we've got a common foe." He mulled over things for a bit as they continued talking. "Moving on from that, what can you offer us in this partnership?"

"Information. I'm very well-informed, and have many ways of getting information that heroes and police both would struggle to obtain."

"If we form this partnership, are you willing to share your identity with us? Just us three?" Tsuragamae asked.

"Unfortunately, not at this time." Viridian shook his head.

"And what if we had ways of getting you licensed?" Eraserhead cut in, and Viridian's head whipped up in shock so quickly that he nearly spilled the coffee.

"Wh-_what_?!" He _had_ to have heard that wrong.

"A Hero License." Eraserhead smirked.

"I… that can't…" He stuttered and blinked in absolute shock. There was _no fucking way_ that it could be _that_ damn easy.

"You're the #1 Vigilante in Japan." Tsukauchi deadpanned. "And you think you wouldn't pass the License Exam for heroes? As long as a current hero recommends you, you can take it, even if you didn't go to a Hero School. Since Eraserhead here spoke up, it sounds like he's willing to sponsor you in this."

"I am. It'll make things easier for the both of us."

Viridian's head was spinning. "Hold on. I need some time to think about this. You sort of just broke my whole world-view, okay?" He ignored the chuckles from Tsukauchi and Eraserhead, as well as the amused smirk from Tsuragamae.

Was there a reason to take it? Well, _yeah_! He'd be a licensed hero, just like he'd always dreamed! But he'd probably have to reveal his identity, which would complicate things, as he didn't think they'd let a 15-year-old become a hero without a fight. But if he _was_ able to make it, then he'd be able to bring down the league outright, and forgo the entire student fiasco…

Cons, though… If he forewent the student fiasco, then there was no guarantee that he'd be able to make it to the USJ incident, which would result in the death of one Asui Tsuyu and near death of Aizawa Shouta. Plus, he'd be able to do so as _Midoriya Izuku_, and not_ Viridian_, who could remain a vigilante and still help the police and heroes through information gathering and fighting. And if they knew that Viridian was no older than a first year, they'd surely start keeping him from things that they deemed 'too dangerous'.

But he couldn't give those reasonings to them. So what could he say that'd sound believable?

"I might take you up on that offer… but not at this time. For the time being, I think I'm more valuable to you as a vigilante who can get in and out of areas that heroes and police can't."

"Oh? Like?" Tsuragamae prompted.

"A few underground information and black market networks that I know of." He smirked, leaning back against he couch. He pulled up his mask a bit to take another sip of coffee, allowing them to see said fanged smirk.

"I'll agree to our partnership, then. So long as you stick to the laws, that is. And tell us what your Quirk is." Viridian pulled his mask back down so he could speak.

"Hmmm…" He hummed, as he stroked his chin, used to the stubble he had in the future. "Let's see… do I tell the truth and break you? Or simply leave it as a mystery?" He wondered aloud. Internally laughing at their offended looks.

"Please. Humor us." Eraserhead deadpanned.

"Fine." Viridian grinned. "My Quirk? Is nada." They blinked, not understanding. "I'm Quirkless. I'm practically invisible to the laws. _That's_ why I'm your ace."

He watched with no small amount of glee as the information settled into their brains like water in a rock before freezing and expanding and _breaking_ their minds.

"Y-you mean… all this time…?" Eraserhead stuttered, which was honestly what made Viridian lose it and start laughing.

"He's lying… right?" Tsuragamae looked over to Tsukauchi, who shook his head. "Don't tell me that Japan's #1 Vigilante is…?"

"He's telling the truth." He paused for a moment. "That drug trading ring you busted a few months ago… the one with the Quirk breaking drugs." His eyes widened in realization.

"Doesn't do shit to a Quirkless guy. Should've seen the looks on their faces when they got me with it and it did _nothing_." He let his smirk drop. "Of course, I completely understand if you'd like to reject this offer. I know things are a bit different when my Quirkless status is taken into account." He puzzled at the frowns of the three men.

"Illogical. This changes nothing." Eraserhead shook his head. "Quirkless or not, you still… ugh… ran circles around us." Wow, that sounded like it physically pained him to admit. Viridian bit back a snicker to spare the man some dignity.

"All right, then." Tsuragamae stood up, shaking himself out of his stupor. He held out a hand. "Welcome to the team, Viridian. I'll put out the word to stop chasing you. You'll be an official informant for us, now."

"Really? So no more late-night chases?" Viridian took his hand with a firm shake. "I have to say, I'm going to miss our midnight games." He sighed wistfully.

"Well _I'm_ going to enjoy the quieter nights." Tsukauchi stated, and Eraserhead nodded resolutely.

"You two are no fun." Viridian pouted, causing Tsuragamae to chuckle.

"You've certainly done a good job keeping my men active and on their toes. Maybe we should have you run a training camp or two sometime?" He pondered, making Viridian grin, and the other two men pale.

"Sounds like a blast."

"I'll look forward to working with you, Viridian. Here's my number. Use it."

Viridian walked out of that police station with a grin that would've made the future Shouta shudder.

_World, here I come_.

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: GUYS! Did you see?! Viridian made a PUBLIC APPEARANCE in Musutafu! _**

**_MoldiBroccli: No way?! Show me! _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Just check out his fanpage! There's a ton of photos and videos there! A lot of people saw him go into the police station, so maybe he's working with them, now?_**

**_DragoninaDress: damn, he's really public? That seems unlike him, tho…_**

**_Noiscardily: He looks distinctly uncomfortable in such a populated area. I'm willing to bet that the police asked him to come in for some reason (maybe the kidnapping case he helped with?). He's gaining a lot of clout online, so they may be trying to recruit him, or turn him into a legal hero instead of a vigilante. _**

**_Barbieisawhore: is that really possible?! I thought u had 2 go 2 a hero school 2 become a hero?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: I think it's possible… I mean, Hawks didn't attend a hero school, right?_**

**_Ihavenoname: It's an old law that nobody bothered to update. It's leftover from before the hero schools were established. If a licensed hero recommends someone who's been apprehending villains on their own, then they can take the Hero Licensing Exam. It was originally the only way to become licensed. _**

**_Noiscardily: I think I remember reading about that. The first heroes were given the title by the government, and when they came across young hero hopefuls, they trained them and then recommended them for their own licenses. _**

**_Ihavenoname: Right, but after the Hero Schools were established, it sort of just fell out of practice. It was easier to train a group of hero-hopefuls all together and produce multiple heroes than train them one-on-one with a licensed hero for months or years. _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: I really doubt ppl realize this is a thing. Once someone fails the High School Heroics Entrance Exams, they pretty much take that as a closed door and find a different career. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: So it's possible to enter the heroics field even as an adult?_**

**_Ihavenoname: Yep. But that's only if they can find a hero to speak up for them._**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I doubt Viridian'll have trouble with that. He's amazing! _**

**_Noiscardily: Either way, now we have GOOD pictures and videos of our favorite Vigilante! :D Guess what my new screensaver is~_**


	5. Chapter 5: Connections

_**A/N: Hey everyone! Hope today finds you well and not too bored. Lookie! Updates two days in a row! Let's keep this streak up! I'll do my best to help relieve your boredom and anxiety or stress through my stories while we bunker down for the Covid19 stuff, k? **_

_**Just found out that while my home state, California, issued a stay-at-home order, both my jobs remain unaffected. So I've still got to work. oof. Though one job modified their hours massively. Instead of the normal 6AM-10PM business hours, we're now 10AM-7PM. I'm actually somewhat relieved, even though it's cutting my pay more than before. I've saved up 6 months of rent just in case, so I should be good either way. :) **_

_**Bonus: Maybe I'll finally clean my disaster of a bedroom? (When it literally takes something that the world is treating like a psuedo apocalypse to get me to clean my room)... oof. **_

_**I'm working on Swan Dive, and I'll try to get that next chapter up tomorrow, so look forward to that! :D As it's written right now, Chapter 21 of Swan Dive should see the U.A. Entrance Exams! ;) So look forward to that, k?**_

_**Though I may go back in and write some stuff with Nemuri... Just so you guys know, I was going to put her and Inko together before Chapter 9 happened. (which Chapter 9 was planned from the start, cause I'm a heartless bitch). **_

_**Stay safe out there, everyone! And please enjoy the chapter! Also! If anyone has fanart of my stories, I'd love to see it! I can't really draw worth shit, so seeing my writing come to life on a page is super inspiring to me! I'll even feature your artwork on the relevant chapter for the sites that permit it.**_

* * *

Viridian looked around the office with an appreciative gaze. Naomasa had good taste. He'd been in here a few times before (by sneaking in through the window to leave notes and coffee), but this was his first time in the room as a _guest_.

It was painted in neutral colors with darker accents, giving the place a warm cozy feel. The couch pushed up against the wall looked well-loved and comfortable, while the rug had a few coffee spills.

There were six desks and a separate door that led to Naomasa's _private_ office, which the man rarely used.

"Nice place." He smirked beneath his mask.

"Don't act like it's your first time in here." Naomasa huffed. "I can't remember how many times you've broken into my office."

"Twenty-seven." Viridian replied offhandedly. Someone nearby whistled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya." The man had light brown hair and yellow-gold eyes. Viridian spied a monkey's tail curling excitedly behind the man—likely his Quirk. He looked a little closer. His hairline spread a little below what most people would consider normal, and his upper lip protruded very slightly, indicating sharp canines. His shoes were custom-made; likely for the hand-like feet he sported.

Yep. He had a monkey-Quirk.

"I'm Tirogune, but you can call me Tiro~" He grinned, showing off the fangs that Viridian had already suspected him of possessing.

Naomasa sighed. "Tirogune, this is Viridian, he's going to be working with us from now on, so please be nice."

"V-_Viridian_?! As in the _vigilante_ Viridian?! Like the guy the entire _country's_ been after for over half a year?!"

Viridian leaned back against the wall with an easy smirk. "I see you've heard of me."

"Oh, I _like_ him." Tirogune grinned.

"You're a tough guy to find." A feminine voice came around the corner.

"This is Aikure. She and Tirogune are part of my personal team. Ikibara, Sakamura, and Sansa are the three remaining members, but you'll meet them later today."

"I already know Sansa. He's the one with the cat Quirk." Viridian said off-handedly as he studied the new arrival.

Aikure was a very pretty woman. Her platinum blonde hair appeared to be natural, if those ice-blue eyes had anything to say about it. Likely of foreign descent. European, most probably. Her build was slender, but she had a sharpness about her. She seemed _hyper_ aware of her surroundings, and… were those hearing aids? No, no, those were _sound-filters_. Custom-made for people with _very_ sensitive hearing due to their Quirks. Super-hearing, then? Not necessarily enhanced senses all around, as she didn't seem to flinch at the copious amount of light in the room. Her ears were slightly bigger than the average person, but it wasn't overly noticeable. She fidgeted ever so slightly with her fingers, as if she was trying not to snap them.

More than likely, she had some sort of echolocation-based Quirk, then.

"You can stop staring, you know." She huffed.

"Sorry, sorry." Viridian chuckled. "It's a habit of mine—trying to figure out someone's Quirk."

"Oh?" Naomasa raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think?"

"Tirogune, yours is obviously a monkey Quirk. And Aikure… yours is a bit harder… Likely something to do with sound… perhaps something along the lines of echolocation? That's my best guess given the information I have, but I could be way off."

The three were staring at him.

"What?" Viridian asked. Their staring was unnerving.

"I've said all of two sentences to you, and you figured out my Quirk in less than five minutes?" She gaped. "You were right—my Quirk is called Sonar."

"You're a little _too_ good at that." Naomasa decided. "That's a very useful skill."

"Why thank you." Viridian grinned. "Quirk Analysis is a hobby of mine."

"I'd say that's more than just a _hobby_." Tirogune chimed in.

"Perhaps you could help us analyze criminals out in the field, too." Naomasa suggested.

"Sure, if you want. It's nothing too extravagant, though. Like I said—it's a _hobby_—something I've been doing since I was a kid."

"All right, now here's what we know about our current case…"

* * *

As it turned out, bringing Viridian onto the team was more helpful than Naomasa had originally thought. The man had a wicked fast mind, and could piece together a case from the barest details.

The man wasn't bothered by bodies either, as he saw when he brought Viridian to a fresh crime scene. The vigilante hadn't been phased in the slightest by the blood or smell of a corpse—it was honestly a little worrying.

His team worked well with the vigilante, too. And if Naomasa thought Viridian's information network was good beforehand… well, let's just say that he was glad the man was on _their_ side.

"Ahh… another case closed." Viridian leaned back against the brick wall as he watched a few of the officers haul away a murderer. He'd been working with Naomasa and his team for a couple of weeks, now, and he was finding himself enjoying the time spent around the detective and his team.

People had started to notice the vigilante helping out the police, and the detective wondered if the other man had seen the blogs lately. Still, not everyone was happy about Japan's most wanted vigilante suddenly being untouchable (as if he'd been 'touchable' beforehand. The man was far too good at slipping away). He tried his best to stay out of sight while on patrol. Just in case, he urged the other man to patrol alongside Eraserhead.

He'd made it abundantly clear that he was untouchable in _Musutafu._ Other areas of Japan would still try to bring him in—not that Naomasa thought they _could_. He'd heard from Toshinori himself that Viridian had given even _him_ the slip. That was no easy feat.

If even All Might—the world's Number One Hero—couldn't catch Viridian, then it's no wonder that Tsuragamae had been allowed to bring him onto the team. Tsukauchi still wasn't entirely sure how Tsuragamae had managed that one and kept his badge, but he'd learned that his dog-headed superior had _connections._

"I still have to file the paperwork." Naomasa groaned, rubbing his neck. God, even just the _thought_ of paperwork made his hands cramp with phantom pains. Higher solve rate meant he got paperwork faster. He wasn't sure if he was grateful to the vigilante or not.

"I mean, sucks for you, but I can go grab you some coffee?" He sent said vigilante a glare for a moment before sighing with a tired smile.

"I've still got the grounds you gave me last week. The offer's appreciated though. You coming back with me?"

The vigilante had been on edge all day, and it was starting to make him edgy. He'd seen Eraserhead get like this once or twice—called it the Hero's Gut—an instinct experienced heroes developed over the course of their career. Many countries even accepted it as a valid reason to grant things like search warrants and the like to police. If Viridian had a bad gut feeling, then he was worried for him. It'd be safer for him to come back to the office with him.

"I would, but I'm going to patrol a bit before Eraser takes over. Something about today's got me on edge. Be careful, Masa."

So it _was_ a gut feeling. Damn. "You too, Viridian." He sighed. Hopefully the man would be _careful._ "Message me tonight so I know you aren't dead."

"Psh. As if I'd die so easily! Ye of little faith, Detective. What's the worst thing that could happen?" Viridian laughed as he shoved his hands in his pockets and casually strolled away.

There was only two hours before Eraserhead started his shift, but… maybe the detective should call him in early?

He couldn't help but feel like Viridian jinxed it.

* * *

_I fucked up._ It wasn't something that Viridian liked to admit. He'd fucking jinxed himself. _What's the worst thing that could happen? I asked. Well, apparently running into motherfucking STAIN. _

He'd been trying to steer clear of the alleged Hero Killer. He knew how dangerous the guy was. But somehow, Stain found _him_.

Now, Viridian was hurt _badly_, and left bleeding out in some back alleyway. He had no idea how, but he _thought_ he might've managed to impress Stain… enough to keep him alive. At the very least, the Hero Killer didn't come back to finish him off. And Viridian was fairly certain that there was no permanent damage done, or at least, there would be none if he could manage to get out of this mess alive.

But the Hero Killer had (accidentally) broken his phone when he'd sliced Viridian's side open. And he was losing way too much blood. He couldn't even stand, let alone contact Naomasa. Eraserhead wouldn't start his shift for another half hour, and by that point, he'd be dead.

_Shit…_ He struggled to keep his breathing calm. _I can't afford to die here…_ He heard footsteps down the alleyway. For a moment, he feared that Stain had changed his mind and returned to finish the job.

"Holy shit." He groaned when he felt something press painfully against his injury. He blinked a few times to clear his vision. It was a… kid? No, he knew this guy… He was a young hero.

"Hawks?"

"Yeah. Hold still. You're hurt pretty badly. I'll fly you to a hospital, it'll be faster than an ambulance." He carefully scooped Viridian up in his arms, keeping pressure on the wound.

Hospitals were bad. Hospitals would unmask him and ruin his chances at U.A.—at getting to Shigaraki. He wouldn't be able to make it to the USJ Incident in time, and everything would be for _nothing_. The vigilante took a deep shuddering breath as he made his decision.

"No hospital." He ground out through bloodied teeth. The winged hero paused for a moment to look at him incredulously.

"I can't just let you _die_."

"I can stitch it up myself… _Please_." He looked up at the blond, and he could see the youngster's eyes flicker in indecision. "I _need_ you to trust me."

"Why am I listening to you?" He muttered to himself. "Fine. Where are we going?" He spread his impressive wingspan and took to the skies. Viridian internally whooped at the feeling, though it was dampened by the blood loss.

"Take me to Dagoba Beach." Viridian forced out between gasps of pain. "Tell anyone where I live, and I'll _pluck_ you." He added as an afterthought.

"That's a _great_ way to thank the guy who's saving your life." Hawks huffed back, unamused.

"I'm kind of in a bit of _pain_, here, if you hadn't noticed, so please excuse my rudeness." Viridian hissed.

"Fine…" He tightened his grip as he altered course.

If Viridian liked hopping across the rooftops, then he _loved_ flying. It was the most freeing experience he'd ever had. He smiled under his mask, and couldn't help the light laughter that bubbled up in his chest, even if it hurt like a bitch.

* * *

Takami Keigo, better known as the Pro Hero Hawks, looked down with his own soft smile, though it turned to a concerned frown when he realized how much blood the vigilante had lost.

He wasn't sure what to expect when he'd found the famed vigilante _Viridian_ bleeding out in an alley. At first, he hadn't even believed that it _was_ Japan's most elusive 'shadow-hero' (as they called him online), but the Hero Killer himself had found Keigo and pointed him in the direction of the alley.

"I'm not here for you, Hawks. I left Viridian in that alleyway back there. Don't let him die—he's got potential as a hero."

Before the winged man could do anything, the Hero Killer had vanished. If Keigo was being honest, he hadn't believed Stain when he said he left Viridian bleeding out in an alley, but… here he was saving the stubborn jerk who refused to go to a hospital.

Viridian was certainly an enigma. He was one of the most wanted men in all of Japan—the most wanted of all the vigilantes in the country—and yet he was also amongst the most peaceful. If Keigo didn't know any better, he'd assume the man a hero, not a vigilante. And recently, all the heroes in Musutafu got an alert from the Musutafu PD that Viridian was now working _with_ them.

It was a first in a long time. The fact that he was elusive enough that the cops thought it was better to pull him onto their team spoke _volumes_. Because that hadn't happened since Quirks came about. The last time the cops had to ask for help from a vigilante consistently enough that they formed a partnership was the formation of the profession of Hero. He snapped back to reality when he realized they'd arrived.

"Honestly… You live in a _dump_?" Keigo asked as he carefully landed where the vigilante specified.

"Beggars can't be choosers, you know." Viridian shot back. "Not all of us are lucky enough to have families to go back to." He said the last part quietly, and Keigo was sure he wasn't meant to hear it. Either way, he filed the information away for later.

He carefully followed the vigilante's instructions, navigating an _extremely specific_ pathway through the mountains of trash until he came to a clearing. There was a fire pit set a safe distance from an old beat up camper. _Damn. He really does live here._

He went inside the camper and set the man down on the bed inside. The place was actually kind of nice, considering everything in there was likely salvaged from the junkyard outside. Though he idly wondered if letting the man heal up in here with such a gaping wound was a good idea. It _couldn't_ be sanitary.

"I've scrubbed the place with bleach, don't look so apprehensive." Viridian scoffed, words a little slurred from blood loss. "Sit down, make yourself a cup of tea—yes the stove works. I've gotta get this stitched up."

Keigo was about to protest—surely he didn't mean to stitch himself up without any kind of pain medicine—but Viridian had already started stitching the wound closed with the kind of nonchalance and precision that came from _years_ of experience.

The hero turned a little green, despite himself. How was he doing that so _easily_?! Keigo _hated_ stitches.

"I'm done." Viridian finally said. From what Keigo could see, he was quite pale.

"Here. You need to stay hydrated." Keigo handed him a bottle of water he'd found in the fridge (which actually worked, which was shocking… he hadn't expected electricity in a literal _dump_).

"Not gonna arrest me?" Viridian cocked an eyebrow. Or at least, Keigo assumed he was cocking an eyebrow.

"Musutafu PD put out the word that you're on our side, now."

"Yeah, something tells me Naomasa wouldn't be too happy if you brought me in injured and all tied up." Viridian chuckled.

"You mean detective Tsukauchi?" Why was he on a first-name basis with the lead detective in Musutafu?

"Yep. Since I'm an informant for the Musutafu PD, they've stuck me with Naomasa's team. I've been helping them on investigations and stuff. You know, since they _technically_ can't arrest me, as I've never used a Quirk during my vigilante work…" Viridian was smirking, Keigo was _sure_ of it. Still, the man never used his Quirk? He had to be lying. Keigo was pretty damn sure the vigilante had some kind of evasive Quirk—he _had_ to.

"So why trust me with your humble abode?" Keigo changed the topic.

"Like I had a choice? Between you or the hospital, I think I'll sooner take my chances with you. The hospital would likely drug me just to get the mask off."

"Most vigilantes aren't that protective of their identities—especially those who don't need to worry about being arrested."

"Most vigilantes don't plan to do something with their civilian persona."

"Oh? And why would being a vigilante impact that? Don't tell me you wanna join the cops?"

"No. I'm going to become a goddamned hero." Viridian snapped back. Keigo must've hit a nerve, because the man before him instantly shut his mouth, like he'd said something forbidden. "Fuck. I hate pain. I should not have said that."

"You technically already _are_ a hero, you know."

"Shut up." Viridian glared, causing Keigo to raise his hands in surrender. "I'm not a hero. I'm a _vigilante_. There's a difference."

Keigo decided that tonight was _not_ the night to argue the point. "Look, you need to get some rest. I've got nowhere to be."

Viridian gave a snort. "The #3 hero has nowhere to be? Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"You interest me. I can take a couple days to myself—my sidekicks can handle things while I'm gone."

"Fine, fine. Not like I'm in the state to kick you out, anyways." Viridian waved his hand. "Just don't go snooping or anything. And _don't touch the mask._"

* * *

Viridian groaned as he woke up. The previous nights' events slowly trickled into his mind as someone opened the door to his camper. His first instinct was to bolt upright, but a sharp pain had him immediately regretting that decision.

"Woah! Stay down, would'ya? You're badly hurt." Hawks reprimanded lightly.

"What're you, my mother?"

"I'm the hero who saved your _life_." He replied irritably as he placed his hands on his hips. The plastic bag from the convenience store hung on his wrist.

"Uh… what's with the bag?"

"You're out of food." Hawks replied like it was the simplest thing in the world. "Don't think I didn't notice how _light_ you were when I carried you home two days ago."

_"Two days ago?!_" Shit! He'd missed school. _Fucker_.

"Yeah, you've been _out_. Not that I can blame you, that is." Hawks shrugged as he casually restocked Viridian's fridge with more food than the vigilante had seen in his life.

"I… how am I supposed to _eat_ all that?"

"You know, most people have _three_ meals a day."

"Most people also don't live in a _dump_." Viridian replied. "By the way, do you have a phone on you? I need to make a call."

"Don't you have one?" Hawks questioned with a raised eyebrow. Viridian fished the remains of his old phone—bloodstained and battered. It needed to be either salvaged or completely scrapped. He _should_ be able to salvage it, though… if he could find the right pieces. "Right. Here, just make it fast."

Viridian took the hero's phone with a curious look. He'd always had to buy phones online to avoid Quirkless discrimination and unfair price spikes (especially with electronics), so he always got the cheapest models. Hero phones were expensive and incredibly durable. They could find a signal just about anywhere. He marveled at it for a moment before typing in the Musutafu PD's number—as he didn't have Naomasa or Eraserhead's numbers memorized.

"Musutafu Police Department, this is Suki."

"Hey! Suki!" He greeted casually. "It's Viridian, think you could patch me through to Naomasa?"

There was a long pause before she sighed. "Yeah."

"Thanks." He waited exactly two and a half rings before the detective himself picked up.

"Viridian?" There was a clear worry in his voice that made the vigilante smile.

"Masa! How're you doing?"

"You haven't been answering us. Are you okay?"

"Er… my phone was kinda trashed, but I'm alive, so I just wanted to let you know that." He felt Hawks' phone vibrate indicating a new mission or message. "Anyhow, I'm borrowing someone else's phone, so I gotta go. I'm good, tho. Give me a few weeks and I'll be back out there in no time." He grinned. "Love ya, Masa!"

"A few _weeks_?! Viridian just ho—" He hung up on the detective and handed the phone back to a baffled hero.

"Was that a good idea to hang up on the detective?"

"I do it all the time." He grinned back. "Masa's used to it by now."

"… Right." Hawks sighed as he looked at whatever message had come through. "Eh, my sidekicks can handle that." He shrugged as he pocketed the device. "So what do you want for dinner? I'll cook."

"You can _cook_?" Viridian raised an impressed eyebrow.

Hawks didn't dignify that with a response.

* * *

Viridian sighed as he looked over at his new 'roommate'. It'd been ten days since he'd gotten injured, and his wound was healing nicely, thanks to Hawks.

"I brought you some more food." Hawks said as he set down the bag of groceries. "Seriously, what the hell did you eat before I came along? You're skin and bones, and your fridge was _empty_."

"I was working on that issue… mostly."

"Right." Hawks didn't look convinced.

Viridian stared at him for a moment. For the last week or so, Hawks had been flitting in and out of his little compound, checking up on him and bringing him food and even sometimes cooking him meals. Sometimes they talked, other times they just sat there and enjoyed one another's company. It was so _weird_.

"What do you want?" Viridian finally asked. It'd been bugging him for the last few days. He'd expected… _something_ but… so far, Hawks hadn't seemed to have told anyone about where he lived. Which was a good thing, because while the Musutafu PD liked him, that didn't mean the Hero Commission would think the same. Plus, there were other police forces that'd _love_ to filet him (Tokyo PD came to mind).

"I don't really want anything from you… I suppose… I just want you to keep doing what you've been doing. You do good." Hawks finally answered after a moment. He held his cup of coffee with both hands as he stared at the quickly setting sun.

"Come again?"

"You're not like the other vigilantes. You genuinely want to help people. I think that's admirable. You're a hero in your own way. I just don't understand why you'd subject yourself to this." Hawks gestured to the mountains of trash surrounding them.

"You make it sound like I've got a choice." Viridian chuckled.

"Someone like you… why not become a legal hero?"

Viridian snorted. "You think I'd be here if that was an option right now?" He resolutely shoved away the memory of Eraserhead offering to sponsor him. It _wasn't_ an option right now. It _wasn't_. Because everything was riding on him killing Shigaraki, and his best shot was U.A.

"I'd vouch for you, you know." Viridian stared at the hero.

"If I were to fail, or become a villain, your reputation would be in tatters."

"You're not that kind of man."

"You haven't even known me for a _month_, and you've never even seen my face. How can you possibly know the kind of man I am?" Viridian glared.

"I like to think I've got good instincts." Hawks smiled as he leaned back against the old repaired lawn chair before the fire. The light of the flames danced in his eyes, and Viridian sighed.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He reached up and loosened his mask, causing Hawks' eyes to widen in surprise. "I can't take the hero exam." He pulled the mask off. "I'm only 15."

The Hero blinked in shock. He stared, open-mouthed at the _child_ before him. "Now _that_ is a shock." He laughed in disbelief. "The most elusive vigilante in Japan is a fifteen-year-old kid!"

"I'm going to try out for U.A.'s Hero Course in a few months." Izuku smiled, holding out a hand. "Midoriya Izuku."

Hawks smirked and took the proffered hand. "Takami Keigo. You can just call me Keigo."

"Then call me Izuku."

"So why's a _kid_ living in a trash dump as a vigilante?" Keigo raised an eyebrow. "Because it was strange when I thought you were an adult, but it's downright worrisome knowing you're a _kid_."

"I'm not a kid!" Izuku protested with a glare. He faltered when Keigo raised an eyebrow. "Okay… maybe I _am_ technically a kid, but…" He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm Quirkless, okay? If you know anything about how we're treated by society, then you won't need any further explanation."

Keigo stared at Izuku for a long moment, processing that the most wanted vigilante didn't even have a _Quirk._ "Damn, was so sure about that stealth-Quirk." He muttered before speaking up. "Why not stay with me, then?"

"I can't. It's too dangerous." Izuku protested immediately. "I've got a _lot_ of very dangerous people after me, as Viridian, and if word got out about you helping a vigilante…"

"Like I care about that." Keigo rolled his eyes. "Look, Izuku. I'm a hero, first and foremost. Meaning I _help_ people. And whether you admit it or not, you need some help."

Okay, this was obviously not working the way Izuku needed it to work. He _had_ to stay as far under the radar as Izuku as possible until U.A. He _couldn't_ risk anything blowing this shot. And as awesome as it'd be to live with Keigo, it'd only put the man in danger. He couldn't do that to the kid (because Keigo was a kid compared to Izuku's mental age).

"You're the number 3 hero, right?" Izuku asked suddenly, causing Keigo's brows to furrow in confusion.

"Yes..."

"Have you ever heard of a villain called All For One?"

Keigo stiffened, and his entire demeanor changed. No longer was he so carefree and light. "How the _hell_ did you learn that name?"

"Come on, surely you know Viridian has an extensive information network? I have my ways." Izuku answered with a mysterious smirk before returning to the more serious topic. "I'm not after _him_, per se, but I _am_ after his protégé—Shigaraki Tomura."

"Listen, Izuku… Vigilante or not, I _can't_ let you go anywhere near All for One. You've no idea how dangerous he is."

"On the contrary, I know _precisely_ how dangerous he is. It's why I can't risk staying with you. Once I'm on his radar, he'll use _whatever_ means available to get to me. And people will notice if the #3 hero gets a new roommate."

"Izuku—"

"Please, Keigo." Izuku looked the hero in the eye. "_Please_. Just… _Trust_ me. I know what I'm doing."

There was a long pause. The two held a staring contest to test the other's will. Finally, Keigo relented with a sigh. "I'm still going to bring you food and make sure you're not killing yourself with this stupid vigilante shit."

Izuku snorted. "Careful. You make it sound like I'm a friend."

"Well, maybe you are."

"Huh?"

"You don't have many friends, do you?"

"Uhhh… I don't think I've _ever_ had friends." Izuku replied dumbly. Even Shouta and Hizashi were more like brothers than friends.

"Yeah, I haven't really had many, either." He shrugged. "Guess we're in the same boat, then. Here, gimme your phone."

"Why?"

"So I can add my number." He paused. "Oh wait, Stain trashed yours, didn't he?"

"Yeah, my vigilante phone is still out of commission, so you'll have to make due with my civilian phone." Izuku smirked, tossing it at the blond.

"You live in a dump, but own _two_ phones?"

"Correction! I live in a dump, so I _fixed_ two phones and hacked them to be untraceable and _free_." He grinned. "My vigilante phone is almost repaired, though. Finally found the stupid parts I needed."

"You're unbelievable." Keigo shook his head with a fond smile.

Izuku laid back against the sand to watch the stars blink into view. "Aren't your sidekicks worried? You've been disappearing over here a lot lately."

"Nah, they're used to me just up and vanishing for a bit. I'm pretty free-spirited."

"I'm going to go get ready for my patrol." Izuku decided, pushing himself up.

"I wish you'd wait another week."

"Nope~! Sorry, no-can-do. While Masa and Eraser know I'm not dead, I still need to let 'em know what happened. Besides, Naomasa and the team's probably worried sick over me."

"I swear, if you end up bleeding out in an alleyway somewhere again, I'm going to stop bringing you coffee."

"No! Not the coffee!" Izuku gasped.

"Go on, or they'll get more worried than they already are." Keigo shook his head fondly, and Izuku just shot him a grin as he tied on his mask.

"Have fun~ Don't burn down my place while I'm gone!"

"I won't." Keigo promised.

* * *

"You've been missing for _ten days_." Shouta glared at Viridian the moment he came into view. He, Tsukauchi and his team, and Tsuragamae had been growing increasingly concerned—especially when the vigilante had promised to text them, and never did. He _always_ texted them when he promised to.

The phone call Naomasa had received from the vigilante two days after hadn't done much to alleviate their worries.

The vigilante had been a constant face around the police department since their partnership, and he always met up with Shouta during the start of his patrol.

So when the man just dropped off the map without warning, they'd assumed the worst. They'd been searching just about every crevice they could find in an attempt to contact or track down the vigilante. The call had helped a bit, but not much, especially considering the fact that he wouldn't respond to any calls or messages thereafter.

"Sorry. I sort of got hurt, and needed some recovery time. My phone was trashed in the incident." Viridian scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and Shouta felt a spike of worry.

"How badly are we talking, here?"

"Er… I ran into the Hero Killer, Stain, and he may have left me bleeding out in an alleyway halfway across town with a busted phone."

Shouta felt himself pale. "Show me." If he'd run into the _Hero Killer_, then it was a miracle he was still _alive_. That guy hardly ever let people live without some kind of permanent damage.

"Wh-what?!" The vigilante took a step back in surprise.

"The injury. I am _not_ going to let you patrol if you're still in bad shape. I don't let my coworkers die."

"Aww~ You _do_ care." Viridian smirked, and Shouta narrowed his eyes. "Fine, fine." Viridian lifted the edge of his shirt to show white bandages. With a sigh, the vigilante carefully unwrapped the injury, revealing a rather nasty gash that was stitched up. "Happy, now?"

"Who did the stitches?" Shouta asked as he helped the man rewrap the injury—it'd only been ten days, after all. He couldn't help but notice several other scars on what little skin he could see.

"What is this, 20 Questions? I stitched myself up, like I always do." He huffed, and the hero sighed. _No official medical treatment. Wonderful. _

"Look, Viridian. You're part of our _team_, now. That means you can actually get legally treated at hospitals without worry of being arrested." Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off an oncoming headache, as Viridian lowered his shirt. "And if push comes to shove, then I'll even call Recovery Girl. You can't keep doing this."

"I'm more worried about being unmasked, than arrested." He muttered.

"What's so important about your identity that you'd nearly _die_ protecting it?" Shouta's gaze narrowed. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the Erasure Hero had become rather fond of the immature vigilante. He was easy to talk to, and while mysterious, he was honest. It was refreshing for Shouta, and he often didn't find people who appreciated his dry sense of humor.

"I'll tell you one day." Viridian promised. "But right now, if I told you who I was, it'd cause more harm than good…" He smirked. "Listen to your elders." He chuckled, like he'd made a joke.

"Elders?" Shouta raised an eyebrow.

"For all you know, I could be older than you."

"For the information you've given us, you could be younger, too." Though Shouta highly doubted that was the case. The man moved with far too much experience and his eyes held far too many years.

"The world may never know." He smirked. "I think that was a slogan for a candy at some point."

"Tootsie pops." Shouta grunted. _Definitely older._ "My great grandfather loved those things."

"At any rate, since we're working together now, I thought it'd be nice to patrol _with_ you, instead of making you run around after me."

"How _thoughtful_ of you." Shouta twitched. "Let me inform the other two about your situation, though."

"Have you all been worried about me?"

"If we have, _I_ wouldn't admit it."

He fished out his phone, the black case fitting nicely in his hand.

**_Eraserhead added Tsuragamae to Chaos Unlimited Group Chat_**

**_Eraserhead: I found Viridian. He's okay. _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Thank god! How is he?! Is he hurt?!_**

**_Tsuragamae: I'm glad to know he's okay._**

**_Eraserhead: Aww~ You guys do care about me! :D_**

**_Eraserhead: He's not hurt too badly, But if he steals my phone again, he might be…_**

**_DetectiveHolmes: So what happened? _**

**_Eraserhead: He ran into Stain, the Hero Killer. He's recovering nicely, but we'll be patrolling together until he's fully healed. It's a self-treated wound, but the stitches are passable. _**

**_Tsuragamae: Stain? Hand the phone to Viridian. I need information. _**

**_Eraserhead: Hold on, he's fiddling with a… flip phone? I thought those died out centuries ago?_**

**_ViridianChaos: HA! I FIWED IT!_**

**_ViridianChaos: Wait… fiwed. Wwwwwwww DAMNIT, NOOOOO! THE W KEW IS BROKEN! TAT_**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Looks like it works just fine to me?_**

**_Eraserhead: He means the 'wxyz' key. It's a flip phone, so he can't type 'x' 'y' or 'z'. It comes out as a 'w'._**

"Seriously, why do you have a _flip_ phone? I didn't even know those still existed." Shouta stared at the small grayish device in the vigilante's hand. It looked like it'd seen better days, and even had welding marks on the back.

"Because they're durable as hell, and untraceable. Besides, it's what I found in the trash, so it was free—I'm not complaining."

"You got your phone from the_ trash_? Why?" Shouta blinked. Was he one of those weirdoes who went dumpster diving to find 'useful' items? Strange.

"Oh shush. You're just jealous because _I_ don't have a phone bill."

"I assure you, Viridian. I am not jealous."

**_ViridianChaos: He's totallw jealous that I can fiw up my phone and not paw a phone bill._**

**_Eraserhead: Would you just let it drop?_**

**_ViridianChaos: ;) Nope. _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: I'm lost._**

**_Eraserhead: Good. _**

**_ViridianChaos: We're all lost to the darkest corners of our deepest fears, lest we learn to stand and fight in our most desperate hour._**

**_DetectiveHolmes: That was… surprisingly deep?_**

**_ViridianChaos: An old friend told me that once. I think he was drunk._**

Shouta sighed. "Are we going to patrol or not?"

**_ViridianChaos: Gotta go patrol, now~! Oh! And that info on Stain. He's got some prettw serious ideals, so I'll tell wou about that in person, but I didn't reallw get a good gauge on his Quirk. He definitelw has one, though. It's got something to do with paralwsis—I didn't see what he did (he's so fast!) but I found mwself unable to move for a short period of time. I recommend that nobodw patrol alone until we're sure he's left town._**

**_ViridianChaos: Fuck, I hate the fact that this stupid kew is broken. :/_**

**_Tsuragamae: Noted. I'll put out the word for the Heroes. Thank you, Viridian. And I'm glad you're still with us. _**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Seriously, first you got shot (twice!) and now you've gotten yourself stabbed by a man who's known for murdering heroes. I'm starting to think that maybe you're a trouble magnet._**

**_ViridianChaos: Mawbe I am? That would ewplain a few things…_**

**_Tsuragamae: Viridian, your penchant for finding trouble is both invaluable and dangerous. For this reason, I'm going to ask Eraserhead to stick by you as often as possible._**

**_Eraserhead: I'll make no promises—he's pretty damn slippery when he wants to be._**

"You're just peeved because you couldn't catch me." Viridian smirked.

"Either way, we'll be working together a _lot_ from this point forward." Shouta huffed, though he was actually rather pleased. It would put his mind at ease to be able to keep an eye on the vigilante during patrols.

Viridian went to put his phone back in his pocket, but a nearby pigeon nearly clipped his ear, causing the man to drop his mobile device.

"Fucking bird." He muttered as he bent down to pick it up. A small slip of paper fell out from one of his many hidden pockets.

"Hm?" Shouta picked up the paper that had landed by his feet. It looked like a business card. It was made of good quality paper and was black with silver letters.

_'Chisaki Kai'_ Shouta paled.

"Viridian, where did you get this card?" The vigilante looked up, puzzled as he held out his hand for said card.

"Oh, Overhaul gave it to me when I met him a few months back. During that Quirk-destroying drug bust." He replied nonchalantly.

"Have you any idea how dangerous this man is?"

"I know quite well, which is why I played nice and took the business card. He offered me a position working for him, and when I politely declined, he instead offered me a partnership should I ever want it. Of course, I'm not stupid enough to dip my toes into _that_ kind of web. I know my limits, thanks."

"Well, at least you know that much."

Shouta let the topic drop thereafter. He'd bring it up to Tsuragamae and Tsukauchi later, but for now, they had a patrol to do. And if he was being honest, the Erasure Hero was interested to see how the infamous Viridian worked. He always found trouble before the other heroes, and nobody's ever actually _seen_ him in action. Most of the work he's been doing with Tsukauchi has been information gathering and whatnot. Nobody's actually seen him fight yet. The image of the vigilante flitting across the beams of that warehouse like a living shadow came to his mind.

"You comin' or what?" Viridian asked as he turned away from Shouta's route.

"The patrol ring is _this_ way."

"Nuh uh. If you're gunna make me stay with you on patrol, then we're taking _my_ patrol route, not yours."

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"

"Because you've never patrolled here." Viridian was smirking, Shouta _knew_ it. But the other man's words confused him. Shouta had patrolled over nearly _all_ of Musutafu and the surrounding territories. The only place he wasn't able to consistently patrol was…

"You don't mean the South Side?!" His eyes widened.

"What, is the brave Pro Hero afraid of a little ghost town?" The vigilante teased.

"I just don't see how patrolling that area is logical." Shouta twitched. "It's very poor, and there isn't much crime. The few times I _have_ patrolled there have turned up nothing. Sometimes I doubt there are even people there."

"Oh, believe me—there are." There was a strange gleam to Viridian's eyes. "I patrol the South Side regularly. That's why you never see any crime. I stop it before it starts. It's actually quite a nasty piece of Musutafu—no other heroes bother with it, so people typically do as they please."

Shouta sighed as he made to follow after the vigilante. _Today is going to be a long shift._

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Hey, has anyone seen Viridian lately? He's been MIA for a couple of weeks…_**

**_MoldiBroccli: I've been worried, too._**

**_DragoninaDress: I'm sure he's fine. _**

**_Noiscardily: Rumors say that he got hurt and is recovering. _**

**_Ihavenoname: I saw him out on patrol again, he's fine. He's patrolling with Eraserhead, though. _**

**_DragoninaDress: With who?_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I think he's some underground hero._**

**_Noiscardily: Eraserhead is a top ranked Underground Pro Hero. He's from Musutafu. Nobody really knows much about him because he's very private and hates the press. I've heard rumors that he's good with vigilantes, so that may be why he's with Viridian. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I'm just glad Viridian's okay. :) I was really worried. _**

**_Barbieisawhore: My dad's a cop. I overheard something about Viridian being attacked by Stain. Idk if it's true, but if it is, then I'm glad he's all right. _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: You mean the HERO KILLER?! 0.0_**

**_Barbieisawhore: That's just what I've heard. Idk if it's tru tho._**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I'm gonna go, guys. My bro's gotta head to bed early for a test tomorrow—he's aiming for U.A.! Wish him luck!_**

**_DragoninaDress: Isn't the Entrance Exam next month? _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Yeah. He's working really hard to get in. I know he can do it! He's so cool! _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: I wish him luck, then. _**

**_[Deku is online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: New person?_**

**_TheCakeisaLie: Welcome back, Deku. Haven't seen you on here in a while._**

**_Deku: Ah, I guess it has been a year or so, hasn't it? _**

**_Noiscardily: Deku's been part of this chatroom for _years_. He's a huge hero fan, and knows just about everything about all of them. Though he vanished suddenly about nine months ago…_**

**_Barbieisawhore: Were you pregnant?! _**

**_Deku: Wha?! No, I'm a guy! __**

**_TheCakeisaLie: So your girlfriend, then?_**

**_Deku: Bold of you to assume I could land a girlfriend. I could be gay for all you know. _**

**_Demonic-Gay-Microwave: 0_0 that wasn't a no_**

**_Deku: Bullying at school got really bad, and I've been through some serious life-changes. But anyways, I just wanted to check in and let you guys know that I'm still alive (I think) and still kicking (ass). _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Have you heard about Viridian?! _**

**_DragoninaDress: Who _hasn't_ heard about Viridian. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: Well… I mean, we've kinda re-done the chat a bit so…_**

**_Deku: … Why is the chat named 'Cult of Viridian'? 0_o_**

**_MoldiBroccli: Because Viridian's the best hero ever, and he will prevail! _**

**_Deku: … Okay, then. Uh… you all won't see me on much. I'm also trying for U.A. Wish me luck! _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Oh! If you see my bro, say hi! He's got spiky red hair (just dyed it) and a shark-toothed smile. You can't miss 'em!_**

**_Deku: Will do. :) Tell him to look out for a plain kid with freckles and green hair. _**

**_Noiscardily: Red and green, you two will be like a walking Christmas ad. _**

**_Deku: I'm logging out, now. Bye~! _**

**_[Deku has logged out]_**

Izuku stared at the computer screen as Keigo chuckled behind him. "Oh, that's great! They _idolize_ you!"

"I… really hadn't expected that at all." He opened a new tab and started typing in his vigilante name. He couldn't be _that_ popular, right?

_Wrong._ Oh, he was _so_ wrong. Keigo was busting his gut laughing so hard.

"You really have no idea, do you?! People _love_ you, Izu! When you go pro, you'll already have a following."

"I think I should be scared."

"Oh, no." Keigo grinned. "Be terrified."


	6. Chapter 6: Rooftop Chats

**_A/N: Hello everyone! Day 5 of consecutive updates~! YAY! Yesterday it was Swan Dive, today it's Viridian! Sorry it's so short, it's mostly a transition/setup chapter for the U.A. Exams, which are coming up. (If you read Robin's Nest, you might notice how similar the exams are, but in my defense, Viridian Izuku has a PhD in Computer Science, soooo...) _**

**_Hope everyone's staying safe with Corona out there. My boss that may or may not have it came in to work with me today. Oof. Wish me luck. Hope it's just the normal flu or something. _**

**_Fanart is always welcomed, and if you have any please send it to Betweentwoworlds (I should really make another e-mail for fanart, shouldn't I?) Just please title the subject of your e-mail as 'fanart' or something similar so I know it's not spam. Cause I'm not going through my 4k+ unread emails I've been ignoring for the last six months. XD _**

**_Again~ We've got a bnha chat on Telegram. If you're bored enough, come join us~! We've added about five or six people over the last two days, so feel free to come and join us too. Just PM SilvermistAnimeLover, and I'll reply. :) _**

* * *

Izuku was lounging in his refurbished lawn chair by his fire pit as he enjoyed some pasta that he'd cooked. He really couldn't thank Keigo enough for all the food and supplies he'd given to him—even if it _did_ seem like a bit much at times. The sun was shining down, and the wind blew through his dirty green hair. "Maybe I should shower soon…?"

"How long has it been since you last bathed?" Keigo asked as he came into the clearing. He once tried to land from the skies and nearly toppled the delicately piled trash heaps with the wind his wings had created. So he had to memorize the _very specific_ non-booby-trapped route that Izuku had dug out to get to his secluded home.

"Well, I don't exactly have running water, here. I sneak into the gym by the library whenever I can to catch a quick shower."

"Or, you could just waltz into my place and use my stuff." Keigo tossed something at him, and Izuku looked down incredulously at a bright silver key.

"Don't look so surprised—you've been to my apartment before."

"Yeah, but you've given me the _key_ to your apartment. That's kinda different."

"Not really. I'm a busy high-ranking Hero, and you're a busy high-ranking Vigilante who helps out the police. Plus, the Entrance Exams for U.A. are tomorrow." He grinned as he flopped down in the other lawn chair. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Izuku's expression soured. He'd failed the exam _miserably_ in his original timeline. "I put in all the paperwork for my weapons months ago, and Nezu's approved them."

"Relax, Izuku." Keigo sent him a carefree smile. "You're the best Vigilante in _all of Japan_. You ran _circles_ around every Pro Hero and police force out there—even _All Might_ and _Endeavor_! This exam will be _nothing_ to you!"

He remembered that one time that All Might himself had tried to catch him when he'd been patrolling on Tokyo. The man had been terrifyingly quick and strong, and he did_ not_ like being on the other end of that smile. But he'd managed to outwit the #1 Hero and give him the slip until his 3 hours were up. He'd jumped quite drastically in the Vigilante Rankings thereafter. As far as he knew, he was one of the only vigilantes to ever outrun All Might. And it'd been _incredibly_ satisfying to do so. Like he was flipping the man the finger after he'd crushed his dreams _twice_.

"You're right." Izuku relaxed a bit. _You have to be._

Izuku was also happy to note that the local homeless thugs in his area no longer gave him any trouble. After he took on that one guy with some kind of bear Quirk and won, the others backed off rather quickly. He'd earned their _respect_, which was everything on the streets.

Two things would keep you from being used or killed when you were homeless. It was the difference between living on the streets and _running_ the streets. _Respect_ and _connections_.

And Izuku had both—though they didn't know the connections bit, as he hardly interacted with anyone. But that was his choice. He didn't _need_ to interact with the street crowd yet. He knew who was who, of course, and they knew him, but only enough to keep away. He had about six people who owed him favors, and that was enough for now.

Izuku had also been keeping an eye on his vigilante persona's online standing. He was _blown away_ by the number of supporters he had _across Japan_. It wasn't just Musutafu or Hosu—not just the places he'd actually patrolled. It was _everywhere_. He even had people in other _countries_ that were taking an interest in him!

Word had spread about how he helped people that the heroes couldn't—or wouldn't—reach. He vaguely recalled saving a very well-known Quirkless man from a mugging months ago, and he'd apparently written an entire article on the interaction. He strongly noted how Viridian had taken his Quirkless status with a _smile_ and saved him anyways.

Apparently that earned him a lot of supporters globally—from people with weak Quirks or no Quirks. Normally, he wouldn't understand it, but this time, he did. Because _he knew_ what that was like. He knew firsthand that there were some heroes that would turn around and walk away from a Quirkless person in need. He'd _seen_ it.

He'd _lived_ it.

There was no way he'd ever turn his back on _anyone_. That's not who Viridian was. That's not who _Izuku_ was. And that, he'd say, he was proud of.

* * *

Later that night Viridian sat on a rooftop at three in the morning, enjoying the night breeze as he calmed his nerves. In about four hours, he'd be seated down for his written exam. He was too nervous and excited to sleep, no matter what Keigo had said about resting up.

After all, the fate of the entire _world_ was hinging on him actually _getting in _to U.A. this time. Izuku hoped he didn't blow it.

He'd been patrolling with Eraserhead nearly every night, and on the nights he wasn't patrolling with him, he went with a different hero (he enjoyed the patrols with Midnight, too, even if she'd _loathed_ patrolling the South Side. Eraserhead had certainly been shocked at his ability to find trouble; he wasn't sure the man would ever let him patrol alone again). Tsukauchi made sure that nobody (especially Viridian) patrolled alone while Stain was still at large.

Some nights, Viridian spent his time with Tsukauchi and his team, helping them look over case files and pointing out things they'd missed or overlooked. Other nights, he patrolled with his favorite Underground Hero.

He smirked as he heard the quiet footsteps of Eraserhead on the roof behind him. The man sat down beside him.

"I thought we were supposed to patrol _together_." Eraserhead raised a reprimanding eyebrow as he held out a cup of coffee to Izuku, who took it gratefully.

He smiled as he gave a nod of thanks. "And _I_ thought you'd get some extra shut-eye, considering you've got a long day tomorrow. Aren't the U.A. Entrance exams in a few hours?"

Aizawa sighed, taking a long sip of his coffee. "I'd ask how you knew I was a teacher there, but I doubt I'll get any answers from you."

"Don't like that, 'Zawa." His eyes crinkled in a smile, making the hero twitch in annoyance. "I'm just looking out for you, trying to make sure you take care of yourself."

"That's not your job." He replied gruffly.

"It is, because I'm your _friend._"

"You're a _coworker_, not a _friend_." He glared, but there was a certain fondness behind those eyes.

_Totally a friend—tsundere._

Over the last month or so that he'd been patrolling with Eraserhead, the two had grown close. Eraserhead had learned to trust Viridian's gut instincts and let him lead the patrols to find trouble.

Viridian was a bit more confident during the daytime, too, and had started some smaller patrols in the late afternoon.

Perhaps because of this, several civilians had started to mistake him for an actual hero, which Eraserhead had pointed out he technically could be without the license because he was Quirkless. The Hero License pretty much just let people use their Quirks legally, and since Viridian didn't _have_ one, he didn't _need_ one to be a hero. (Though he still should have one, and it would help him gain access to information and places that he couldn't legally access otherwise).

The fact that those words actually put Viridian in tears was something that only Eraserhead knew (and he started freaking out when he saw Viridian crying, but calmed down when he was told that he was happy, because _no one_ had ever told him that before).

His online persona was really popular. People always talked about 'Viridian Sightings' and the like. They nicknamed him the Shadow Hero because he was hardly ever seen while working. Viridian thought it was a cool nickname… maybe he'd keep it? The Shadow Hero: Viridian. Yeah… that sounded badass.

Speaking of online, he'd ghosted several chatrooms and was shocked to see people making _merchandise_ off of him. Like, _what_?! He wasn't a _Hero_! Why would people want _merchandise_ of him?! It'd taken Keigo shoving BBQ Chicken Wings into his mouth to snap him out of that stupor.

"So you gonna tell me who's under that mask?" Eraserhead asked casually. It's become a little joke to them, now. Though he could tell that the man really wanted to know.

"Nope! But, just a head's up, you might not see me as often for a little bit." Viridian looked over the city. "Things are calm right now, something big is coming. A lot of villains have been going off the grid, lately. Be _careful_, Shouta."

The man scowled lightly at the use of his given name. He never got used to Viridian calling him by that.

"Could you maybe call me by my _Hero_ name while I'm on the clock?"

"Life's too short to worry about silly things like formalities. You're my friend, so I'll call you what I want."

Eraserhead gave him an odd look. "Sometimes I swear you're older than me." His eyes narrowed. "But other times you seem younger than my first years."

_Well, if all goes well, tomorrow, I might _be_ one of your first-years!_ Those words were so close to escaping his mouth… but he bit back the urge. It was much more convenient to keep Izuku and Viridian as two _separate_ people, right now. Izuku would be his student, and Viridian would be his informant/comrade. There was little chance Aizawa would let Viridian fight by his side if he knew he wasn't even old enough to legally drive. The man was honestly too soft when it came to children.

"I _promise_ you, Aizawa. I'm no first year." He chuckled. _Not yet… or would it be not anymore?_

"My shift is nearly done. I should get going." Eraserhead sighed. "And so should you."

"Be safe. And like I said, _be careful_. The underworld is stirring, these days, and I rather like you. I don't want you dead. Pass it on to Masa and Ken, would you?"

"I still can't believe Tsuragamae lets you call him by his given name." Eraserhead shook his head. "Same to you, Viridian. Be safe. I'll see you later."

The vigilante couldn't help but smirk as he watched the hero go. He stayed until the sun started to peek over the horizon, painting the sky.

"All right, U.A. Here I come." He cackled as he vanished out of sight.

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Guys! Check it out! _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Viridian_ _**

**_DragoninaDress: Did… did you buy _Viridian_ merch?! That's a thing?!_**

**_MoldiBroccli: I MUST HAVE! WHERE U BUY?!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: off Etsi! Ppl make stuff by hand, there. It's pretty chill. I've got a Viridian keychain, too! And some stickers… and maybe a poster…_**

**_Noiscardily: He's getting very popular. I've seen more and more people with his merchandise walking around. Sometimes, when there's a crime near my house (I live in a bad neighborhood), I hear people calling for Viridian instead of just 'help' or a hero. _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: You mean they call him by name? That's pretty damn cool!_**

**_Noiscardily: Yeah, and the thing is, he _comes_. Consistently. It's like he has a homing beacon for trouble, it's really cool to see. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: are you stalking him or smthn?_**

**_Noiscardily: It's my Quirk. I can 'see' everything in a certain radius of me. The calmer I am, the wider the radius. _**

**_DragoninaDress: You guys are lucky. I'm over here in _France_. I don't even have the ghost of a chance to meet up with Viridian. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Wait… you live in an area he regularly patrols, right? You wouldn't happen to be in Musutafu, would you?!_**

**_Noiscardily: Mayhaps I am?_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: So am I! That's so cool!_**

**_Demonic-Gay-Microwave: Then you've got me… living over here in Tokyo by my lonesome. *cri* _**

**_Barbieisawhore: Don't be such a mope. I live in Tokyo half the time, too. The other half I live with my dad in Musutafu. He works for the cops of Musutafu PD, and apparently Viridian's been working with them. I haven't seen or met him yet, tho. Thinking of asking my dad if I can._**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: if you do, plz take me with you! I HAVE to thank him for saving my life!_**

**_Noiscardily: It _would_ be pretty cool… _**

**_Barbieisawhore: I'll have to ask. My dad doesn't work directly with him, but he knows the guy that does. Apparently Viridian's a bit skittish, tho. Gee, I wonder why? *eyeroll*_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Ack! Gtg. Bro's goin to sleep and we share a room. UA exams tomorrow, ya kno? Wish him luck!_**

**_Noiscardily: Oh yeah… Deku Good Luck on your exams today! :D We're all rooting for you!_**

**_Barbieisawhore: Good luck, Deku!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Good luck! Find my bro, yeah?! _**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi has logged out]_**

* * *

**_OMAKE:_**

Izuku was walking around downtown in the early afternoon. School had just gotten out, and he wanted to spend some time out and about in his civilian persona for a change. Bakugo had been concentrating on studying lately, what with the U.A. Exams coming up, so Izuku didn't have to worry about his school bullies as much.

A flash of green caught his eye, and he stopped to stare at a kid walking by. He had a dark green hoodie with _'Shadow Hero: Viridian'_ written across it.

"What the…?" Was that… _Merch_? For… for _him_?!

He took a closer look at the keychain of the woman walking by. It was a chibi version of his _face_. Or, masked face, at least. "Excuse me, miss?" He stopped her, and she turned to look over at him. "Where'd you get that?" He pointed to the keychain.

"Oh! Another Viridian fan, huh? He's sure is popular." She grinned. "You can really only find his merch online—places like Etsi who make stuff by hand and to order, but I think there might be a shop or two in the mall that has some stuff for him. Honestly, sometimes I forget he's not a legal hero!" She laughed before bidding a shell-shocked Izuku goodbye.

He had _merch_. What the _hell?_ He pulled out his cellphone and called Keigo.

"You knew." He accused the moment the winged hero picked up the phone.

"You're going to have to be a tad more specific than that, Izu."

"Viridian has _merch_." He still couldn't process this. He wasn't a _hero_. Why did he have _merch_?! A vigilante with merch was unheard of! That was like a _Villain_ getting merch—it just didn't happen.

He stared as a kid across the street loudly proclaimed to his sister that he wanted to be a hero like Viridian some day. The world had gone crazy. This was a whole _new_ type of apocalypse.

"Yep. Wondered how long it'd take you to catch on. You're really popular, you know." Keigo sounded amused. _Traitor_.

"But… I—_Viridian_ is a vigilante. Not a hero." He echoed dumbly.

"Yep!" He chirped happily. "Listen, Izuku. Why do you think the police accepted your offer?"

"Because we can help people?" Suddenly, he wasn't so sure anymore. Why _had_ they agreed to a partnership? It was actually fairly unheard of for a vigilante to work with the police like this—something that hadn't happened since… oh, wow… since the pre-Quirk era.

"Try again~" Keigo teased.

"Uh… because… I have connections?"

"It's because they know it's impossible to catch you." Keigo responded. "They can't win against you. So when you offered to join their side, they jumped at the chance. It's a sore spot, but you _beat_ them. They have no power over you, Izu. You have _power_, and you don't even know it."

"Me?" Izuku laughed. "Yeah right. April Fool's is long passed, Kei." He shook his head. And here he thought the winged hero was going to give him an _actual_ answer. Though he did have a point that that they couldn't catch him. Maybe that was why? If you can't catch 'em, join 'em? Or something like that. "Anyways, I've got to go. Still got a few errands to run. Love ya, bro." He chuckled as he heard Keigo splutter on the other end.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get into too much trouble, baby bro." Izuku felt his face heat up as he clicked off the phone. He hadn't thought Keigo would take his little joke seriously.

Didn't mean he didn't like it, though.


	7. Chapter 7: Breaking the Exams

**_A/N: Hello everyone! This is day... 6? I think? Of consecutive updates! WHooO! And Day 2 (3?) of me actually having a tiktok account. Already got 60 people following me, for some reason (do they not have a life?). I also made an e-mail specifically for fanart and the like! It's aizawa —fairly simple, right? It's aizawa [and yes—that's Email, not Gmail]_**

**_Someone has also requested a physical mailing port, so I've made a PO box (rest assured, I am an adult and can make responsible decisions). So if there's something you want to send, let me know and I'll send you the PO box number thing, k? _**

**_So we finally hit the U.A. Exams in Viridian, right after Swan Dive, too~ And I CAN'T BELIEVE all the amazing fanart I've gotten for Swan Dive. You guys are incredible. I can't wait to post it on the next SD chapter! :D _**

**_Also. Why is demon Aizawa/dragon Aizawa not a thing? Like, I was in my Aizawa Cosplay and put on my black dragon wings and horns and was like, "Damn. This should be a popular AU." but it isn't. Come on, guys. Imagine it! Aizawa+fangs+wings+horns. Boom. Instantly puts him on Sebastian's field. think about it. *Already itching to write a fic with this* _**

**_Another thing! I feel the need to announce that this is day 3 of me sustaining myself completely off of smoothies and frosted mini wheat cereal (dry). I feel like this is not how I should eat. But I'm too lazy to go downstairs and microwave myself food right now. I'd rather write. *Stares at cup of ramen I snatched up at Walmart the other day* There's that, too..._**

**_Please stay safe out there with Corona. WASH. THOSE. HANDS. All the damn time. I'm serious—I had a customer today who just lost her niece and husband in the span of a week. I want everyone to be safe, okay? I love you all. 3_**

* * *

Aizawa Shouta sighed tiredly as he took his place in the examiner room at U.A. He didn't exactly agree with the hour that the exam was held at, but he supposed that was only because he didn't get off shift until 4:30 that same morning.

He smirked as he pulled out his phone, clicking into the group chat.

**_LetMeSleep: I'm fucking tired, and it's all your fault, Viridian. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Nope~ It's your fault, too. You didn't have to sit and talk to me. Besides—you're the one who brought caffeine._**

**_DetectiveHolmes: Another late night with no coffee?_**

**_ViridianChaos: I can hear your amusement from here, Masa. And I just said there was caffeine—obviously, that'd be coffee. So there. :P_**

**_DetectiveHolmes: I keep telling you not to call me by my given name, let alone a butchered form of it!_**

**_Tsuragamae: And you aren't used to this by now?_**

**_ViridianChaos: How about Fury then? Like that old character from the Marvel movies? He's pretty kickass. _**

**_ViridianChaos changed DetectiveHolmes's username to Fury._**

**_Fury: Change it back. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Whoops! Gtg! I've got some shit to do. Text you later~! And have fun at the U.A. Entrance Exams, Eraser~! I think you'll be pretty impressed with this year's batch! _**

**_LetMeSleep: You've been watching them?_**

**_ViridianChaos: I may have seen one or two of them use a quirk here or there. ;) Hope you manage to keep some of your class this year! _**

**_LetMeSleep: I'm going to regret getting up this morning, aren't I?_**

**_Fury: Don't you always?_**

Shouta sighed as he pocketed his phone; ignoring the questioning look that Nemuri was sending him.

"Texting your partner again?" She smirked, amused.

"He's not my…" Shouta sighed. Technically, he supposed Viridian _was_ his partner.

"Keep telling yourself that."

Personal feelings aside, Shouta couldn't shake the feeling that Viridian was someone that he should keep an eye on. The past almost-year that he'd been interacting with the vigilante had made him actually _like_ him. The fact that the vigilante had once taken a goddamned _bullet_ for him didn't hurt the trust he was fostering with the mysterious man, either. And he _still_ worried about his—friend? Were they friends?—because the guy never seemed to go to a fucking _hospital_, either. Shouta had half a mind to make him just take the stupid Hero License Exam and get him certified so he wouldn't have an excuse about going to the stupid hospital.

"Sooo? What do ya think of the examinees this year?" Nemuri asked as she slipped an arm around his shoulders, startling him out of his thoughts.

"I don't know, the exam is only just starting." Shouta replied as his husband's voice filtered across the speakers.

"**_GO!_**"

He noted that only one examinee in Battle Center B bothered to move. It was a kid with green fluffy hair and a hoodie. He also held… "Did he get that approved?" Shouta pointed to the sword that the kid wielded.

"Hm?" Nezu looked up at the screen. "Oh, yes. Examinee 2234, Midoriya Izuku. He sent in the request for a few items a couple of months ago. I saw no problem with it, so I agreed."

"Items? Other than the sword?" Cementoss asked, watching as the kid tore through a three pointer brutally. _Damn, he actually knows how to wield that._ Shouta thought in disbelief.

"Yes, though he only asked for three things." Nezu grinned. "His sword." The kid shoved another examinee out of the way as he blocked an attack that would've seriously injured the other kid. "A first-aid kit." Nezu continued as the kid helped another examinee who'd gotten a rather nasty cut on his arm. He wrapped the wound with the kind of fast diligence that only came from field experience. And a _lot_ of it. _Who the hell is this kid?_ "And a cell phone."

"A _cell phone_?!" Snipe asked, incredulously. Nezu nodded.

"I'm quite interested to see what he's planning, to be honest."

"What're his points at so far?" Midnight asked.

"37." Cementoss stated. "He's doing a fantastic job, but in helping the other examinees, he's hindered his villain points. He's regaining them in rescue points, though."

"I'm somewhat worried to see an examinee with _that_ much medical experience." Thirteen admitted. "It's unnerving to watch him act like the buildings blowing up around him is normal. Did you notice?"

"I did." Shouta nodded. Something was off about this kid. Did he survive a villain attack or something? No, that would make sense if the loud sounds were inducing more traumatic reactions… he seemed almost like a soldier, used to chaos and havoc around him. Even pros wouldn't be quite _that_ calm; though Shouta imagined that it _was_ possible that the kid just felt safer knowing it was an exam…

"Let's see how everyone reacts to this, then." Nezu let out a feral grin as he pressed the Big Red Button™ to release the Zero Pointers.

He expected the kid to freeze. To run like everyone else (no matter how disappointed Shouta and the other teachers were when everyone ran). But to their shock, he got up and ran _towards_ the massive killer robot without a hint of hesitation. Almost like he was _waiting_ for it.

"Look… there's a girl trapped under the rubble." Cementoss pointed out, and Midnight radioed Hizashi to make sure that the hero was on standby, ready to rescue her if need be.

"What's that Midoriya kid doing?" Thirteen asked, watching as he jumped on top of an active One Pointer. He then pried off the panel on the back of the robot and pulled out his phone. He messed around with something the camera couldn't see before the smaller robot stopped moving. He grinned, and started typing in haste.

A moment later, every robot in Battle Center B shut down—including the Zero Pointer.

The room was silent, the sound of someone dropping their pen sounded like a grenade. "D-did something happen? Was that a glitch?" Midnight stuttered.

"I don't believe it…" Nezu's eyes were wide and gleaming with excitement. "He _hacked_ the robots! He broke the exam! With a _cell phone_!" He started laughing maniacally.

"Y-you don't seriously mean…" Vlad King looked pale as he realized that _Nezu_ was _interested_ and _excited_ by this kid.

"No way…" All Might's eyes were wide as he choked on his own saliva. "That can't be the same boy…?"

"You know him, All Might?" Shouta's eyes narrowed.

"No, I met him once. I remember him vaguely… He's Quirkless." His words sent the room into murmurs.

"All the more reason." Nezu grinned. "Aizawa, I hope you'll train this boy properly. He'll be joining you in your class this year."

Shouta bit back a groan. _Great. Just what I need—a Problem Child._

"Yes sir." Because what _else_ was he supposed to say to his _boss_? Vlad King sent him a pitying look.

For a moment, he wondered if this Quirkless boy was related in any way to the Quirkless vigilante, but quickly brushed off the thought. There were plenty of Quirkless people in the older generations… it was highly unusual for a child to be born Quirkless in this day and age—and he'd surely need to keep an eye out for any lasting trauma from a rough childhood due to that—but there were plenty more Quirkless people in Viridian's age group.

Besides. Tsukauchi had assured him that the man had spoken the truth when asked about his reasonings for being a vigilante. And he'd stated that he'd failed every High School Hero Exam he'd taken. Which meant that he was a fully-grown _man_. Not a fifteen-year-old boy.

No. There was no possible way that Viridian and Midoriya Izuku could be the same person. Shouta took a sip of his coffee, and the thought wouldn't pop back into his head for weeks to come.

* * *

Izuku was a wreck. It'd been nearly two weeks since the exams, and he had _no idea_ if he passed or not. Shouta—_his_ Shouta—had told him about the Rescue Points, so he'd made sure to help as many people as possible. Logically, with the 40-something Villain Points he'd managed to get, plus the Rescue Points, he was _probably_ going to pass.

But what if they knocked off points for Quirklessness? Or recklessness? Or hacking the robots?! He hadn't even _thought_ about being disqualified for it! So here he was, stalking his mother's house to steal his U.A. letter before she came out to snatch it.

Izuku obviously couldn't tell them to send his mail to the _dump_, now could he? And though Keigo had offered to let him use his address, the fact that a Quirkless 15-year-old knew the #3 Hero well enough to use his _private address_ would bring up more questions than he'd like to answer. Besides—his mother and he shared the same last name. They wouldn't even look twice at the address.

Beyond that, there was a tiny, bitter part of him that really didn't care if All For One targeted Inko.

He tensed as he saw a thick heavy envelope mixed in with the bills. He carefully replaced the rest of his mo—_Inko_'s mail, and quickly made his way back home.

He'd also been unable to meet up with GayAFanimeBoi's brother, though he _had_ caught sight of spiky red hair in the crowd at some point. He'd honestly been far too worried about everything to process much.

And _fuck_, seeing Hiz—Present Mic up on that stage was _hard_. Really fucking hard. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to cry upon seeing him, or rush up there and assure himself that he was okay. He swallowed down his unbearably strong urge to apologize, but he must've made some kind of sound because the blue-haired kid called him out on being disruptive.

Luckily, Izuku had managed to pull himself together by that point, so the spotlight illuminating him hadn't reflected off half-formed tears. Though he was able to see the flash of concern in Present Mic's face—he knew that the man had seen _something_ and had immediately called the attention back to himself. Izuku was grateful.

He hadn't said anything to the blue-haired kid (wasn't he a member of the Iida family?) because he couldn't let _anything_ hinder his chances of getting into U.A. He _had_ to pass—the literal fate of the world depended on it.

He shook his head to dispel the thoughts. The Exam was over, and if all went according to plan, then he'd just have to get used to seeing Hizashi and everyone all over again.

Once he was settled in his camper, he sat down on his ratty futon and carefully opened the envelope. Keigo was out on patrol right now, so Izuku was blessedly alone. A thick, heavy disk fell to the floor with a thump and a projection appeared.

"I AM HERE AS A PROJECTION!" All Might's smiling face beamed down at Izuku, and he couldn't help but scowl. Sure, he didn't necessarily _hate_ the Symbol of Peace, but he didn't _like_ the man, either. Experience has taught him the bitter truth to All Might's words on the rooftop that day. He was no longer angry with him for what he'd said, but he was still hurt and a little bitter for it. Izuku was allowed to feel hurt for having his dreams crushed by his hero, after all. "You managed to get 44 Villain Points in the exam! Well done, my boy!"

"Not your boy." Izuku glared half-heartedly, deciding to ignore the fact that this was a projection.

"Unfortunately, this in and of itself is not enough to pass." Izuku's heart stuttered, and for one horrific moment, he feared he'd blown _everything_. If he hadn't passed, then his next best bet was to take Keigo and Aizawa up on their offers of a sponsorship. He'd have to reveal his identity, but— "However!" His attention snapped back to the projection. "You were also awarded _Rescue_ Points during the exam! And you, Midoriya Izuku, managed to gain an astonishing 88 Rescue Points! Amazing! Not only that, but you managed to do something _incredible_! Nobody has _ever_ managed to hack the robots before, and Principal Nezu is keen on meeting you himself."

He stared at the projection. From what Izuku had heard of the mouse-rat-bear-dog-thing that was the Principal of U.A., he wasn't really sure if that was a good thing or not. Shouta seemed to be rather terrified of the little guy.

"Congratulations! 132 Points puts you at the top of the list! Not only that, but you've broken the record! Welcome, Midoriya-shounen, to your Hero Academia!"

The projection shut off, and Izuku sighed in relief. _I made it_. It took him several minutes of staring at the ceiling of his makeshift home before he found himself crying and laughing hysterically.

The first time he'd tried the exam, he'd failed miserably. Not a single point—villain or rescue. He'd subsequently failed every hero school entrance exam he'd taken, before settling for an academic school instead. And while his choice was by no means a shitty school, it still wasn't _heroics_.

Eventually, he went to a trade school for technology, hoping to at least make support weapons for heroes. He found that he had a knack for hacking and technology, and pursued that career, eventually gaining a PhD in computer science (hence how he hacked the robots so easily). However, he soon became restless and making support gear and helping out heroes by hacking information for them just _wasn't enough_. Even if his support gear was known as some of the best available—right up there with Hatsume Industries'.

He needed to be out there. Helping people. _Really_ helping them. So he took up his proverbial cape and cowl and became a vigilante. He _really_ sucked at first, but luckily there'd been much more… sinister things to keep the attention of the heroes and police occupied until he found his rhythm.

He'd been a (very well-known and semi-respected) vigilante for _six_ years before the apocalypse hit. Before Shigaraki gained the power of All for One and destroyed _everything_… Releasing the feral Nomu… leveling cities and entire nations with the flick of a wrist… _killing All Might_.

Izuku shook his head, dispelling his memories as he held the _very real_ Acceptance Letter to the U.A. Heroics Course.

"It's like a dream. Maybe I actually _did_ die?" He shifted, wincing as he accidentally whacked his funny bone off the side of the table. "Ow. Most dreams don't have pain… only flashbacks, memories and nightmares. So… Not a dream?" He tilted his head, laughing. "Not that my dreams would _ever_ be this kind."

He shook his head. He needed to rest. He'd been too worried about his letter to really do much of that lately, and he could feel his eyes burning with the need for sleep.

He picked up the photo of his _real_ family. He kept it face-down so Keigo wouldn't see it by accident, because it'd bring up a lot of uncomfortable questions.

_I really did it. Shouta… Hizashi… Nemuri… please watch over me… I promise you, I'll do everything I can to make this right._

The stars twinkled down at him.

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Guys! My brother PASSED! HE MADE IT INTO UA'S HERO COURSE! AFLAWEFLWEFJ;OAWJ;FLESDFOHEGRLUKHLKF_**

**_Noiscardily: Are you okay?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: OMV THAT'S AMAZING!_**

**_Barbieisawhore: omv?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: Oh My Viridian. We are the Cult of Viridian, so that means he's our God. _**

**_Deku: What did I just walk in on? O_o _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: My brother made it into UA! He's gonna b a hero! Tho he said he didn't see u there. :( _**

**_Deku: I think I saw him in the crowd, but I was too nervous to talk to him. *Shrug* _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: you still didn't tell us how you did, Deku? _**

**_Demonic-Gay-Microwave: Cake, he might not want to talk about it. _**

**_Deku: Actually… I… passed? Like, I still can hardly believe it. I made it into the Hero Course. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: HALUHAWIURHIUAH! CONGRATZ! U DID IT! You might b in the same class as my bro! That'd b so cool!_**

**_Deku: Huh? Cool?_**

**_Noiscardily: Deku, you realize that your hero analysis skills are top-notch, right? Like, ppl know u on the internet. _**

**_Deku: Whaa?! _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: I mean, with a Quirk like yours, I'm sure that you'll become a great hero! :D _**

**_Deku: … Quirk?_**

**_Noiscardily: Sorry, Deku. We just all assumed you had some kind of analysis Quirk._**

**_Deku: Actually… that's the thing… the reason I'm so shocked I made it into UA… is because I'm… erm… Quirkless._**

**_Noiscardily: …. O.O What?! _**

**_Barbieisawhore: You're _joking_! _**

**_Deku: Nope. Two pinky-toe-joints. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: So you're like, what, U.A.'s first Quirkless student? That's so MANLY! _**

**_Deku: I mean, I think so? Idk how I managed to pass… _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: Remind me never to challenge _you_ to a fight. Geez. You don't need a Quirk to kick ass apparently. _**

**_Deku: I've gtg. My fam and I are celebrating my success. :) _**

**_Noiscardily: Congrats! Have fun!_**

**_TheCakeisaLie: And no worries, we don't care that you're Quirkless!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Internet's great for finding friends that don't give a fuck. :)_**

**_Barbieisawhore: E!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Current language setting is Japanese with a dash of I-don't-give-a-fuck. :P _**

**_[Deku has logged out]_**

* * *

Shouta sighed as he leapt across the rooftops with Viridian. It was about a week before the start of school, and he had about a million and a half things to do. Fortunately, patrols were a _lot_ easier when you weren't going it alone.

He'd been patrolling with the vigilante nearly every night, now. The guy was pretty much healed, and his patrol route was never the same twice. He _always_ found the most trouble, though. It was like Viridian had a built-in beacon for people who needed help.

And Shouta had noted that many of the people who called out for help in or near the South Side exclusively called for Viridian himself—like he was the only one who would heed their cries for help.

Either way, it'd been a rather busy night, and things were starting to calm down. The two of them stopped atop a roof for a breather. "Whatd'ya say to a quick cuppa Joe?" Viridian asked, tilting his head.

"Cup of Joe? Isn't that an old American saying?"

"From the 20th and 21st centuries, actually." He grinned. Not for the first time, the Hero wondered just who was beneath that mask. Or how old he was, at the very least.

"Coffee sounds good." He agreed. But then again, Shouta was _always_ down for a cup of coffee.

The two of them landed on street level and went into the nearby Café. It was one of Shouta's regular haunts, and the barista recognized him immediately. "Ah, Eraserhead! Your usual?" He nodded as she rattled off his order to one of the other baristas who started his coffee. "And Ri! Long time no see! Your usual as well?" She asked the vigilante, and Shouta twitched internally. Mostly because Viridian was probably coming to Shouta's favorite coffee shop long before they teamed up. _Right under my nose…_

"You got it, Yuiko!" He smiled back at her and Shouta could _swear_ he saw her blush.

Within minutes they were seated at a table with their drinks. It was nearly the end of their shift anyhow. There shouldn't be anything for the last 20 minutes unless some idiot decided that four in the morning was the perfect time to rampage (which, knowing Viridian's luck, was a very real possibility).

"Ah~ I haven't been here in weeks." Viridian sat back in his seat and pulled up his mask. Shouta had noticed that the man never spoke with his mask up. Was there…?

"Is that a voice disguiser?" He blinked in surprise at the tiny mechanical device stitched discreetly into the fabric of the mask. The vigilante gave him a fanged smirk as he pulled his mask back down.

"Yep." He chirped happily. "I could be a lot older or younger than you anticipated. Or I could be girl." His eyes crinkled with an amused grin. "Or this could be my real voice and I use the voice changer on my enemies?"

"I'm going to get another migraine if I try to get a straight answer out of you, aren't I?"

"Absolutely! But that's what the coffee is for."

"You're giving me grey hairs, Viridian."

"Please, your students do that _for_ me."

"I don't have any students this year."

"Ah, but that'll change." He smiled.

"Unlikely." Shouta shook his head. He hadn't been overly impressed by too many of his prospective students this year—sans the kid with the explosion Quirk and the Quirkless wonder who'd hacked all the robots.

"Oh? That look on your face tells me otherwise. Care to share?"

"I'm not allowed to discuss my students with an outsider."

"Oh, Shouta! I'm hurt! I thought we were friends."

"I have no friends."

"Liar. I'm your friend. And so are Masa and Ken." He got the distinct impression that Viridian was sticking his tongue out at him.

"Come on, we've got ten minutes. We should at least finish the loop."

He wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to enjoy Viridian's crazy patrol 'route.' As mentioned earlier, it was never really the same twice, but it typically took them through the South Side and then halfway across town. The pattern was seemingly random, but it seemed that they always found the most trouble.

At first, he'd been wary of patrolling the South Side. There were awful rumors of that place, and many doubted that people lived there at all. The conditions were terrible too. Heroes and villains alike avoided the place like the plague—even police typically ignored it.

It used to be the original Musutafu before the city started expanding, but a major earthquake decades ago made it into a ghost town. Now, the South Side had become a lawless area. Well, it was lawless until the vigilante showed up. It seemed Viridian's presence was doing the place a lot of good.

Now Shouta patrolled the area even without the vigilante. The whole point of heroism was to help people, after all. Though if he kept his phone a little closer at hand on those nights, he'd never tell anyone. The stigma was there for a reason, after all.

"Fine, fine. Workaholic." The Vigilante pushed in his chair and tidied up the table before joining the impatient hero.

"You do realize that cleaning up the tables is part of their job, right?"

Viridian twitched. Had Shouta hit a nerve?

"And do you have any idea how irritating it is when people don't clean up after themselves? I've worked in restaurants before. Yeah, it's part of the job, but it shouldn't _have_ to be. We've got about a million other tasks to take care of aside from cleaning tables and making orders, you know. Detail cleaning, dishes, making more food, temping _everything_, cleaning the floors, stocking the utensils and napkins, refilling condiment bottles, cleaning Crathcos and soda fountains, refilling sinks, cleaning drains, cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping outside, trash, windows, counting the registers and the safe, answering the phone, getting orders out on time, paperwork, bank runs, _more_ restocking…" Viridian grew more and more irritated with each task he listed off. "And then _this_ bitch calls, 'Oh, my order wasn't made right, and I tried calling _sixteen times_ but nobody picked up.' And what the hell are you supposed to say?! 'Sorry, we had a rush with a line out the door and three people on staff with a last-minute callout so nobody was available to take the phone?!' And then of course there's that _one_ family who lets their kid make an absolute _warzone_ out of the food you made them, and then they don't even bother to tell you about it so you can clean it up without having to slave on your knees on _tile_ with a bottle of bleach!"

For a long moment, Shouta just stared at Viridian as the vigilante panted. "Are you okay?"

"No. Nobody who works in the food industry is okay." He shook his head.

"R-right…" Okay, so that was one landmine Shouta never wanted to step on again. "So you hold a job outside the vigilante business?"

"Unlike pros, we don't get paid for what we do." Viridian replied, visibly calmer than before. "But no—I'm unemployed right now. I _did_ hold a few different jobs when I was younger, but I've decided to dedicate myself to protecting people."

"Admirable, but how do you pay your bills?"

The other man snorted. "What bills?" He held up his flip phone. "This baby doesn't cost me a _yen_." He grinned, but didn't elaborate further.

"Please tell me that you've got a stable roof over your head?" Shouta's stomach was sinking quickly. Was Viridian _homeless_?!

"I _do_ have a stable roof over my head. It leaks a little, but I've fixed it up."

"Why does this not make me feel better?" He was about to say more when Viridian suddenly stopped. They'd been walking through an alleyway and Shouta couldn't see anything that would tip the other man off to something being wrong. But he'd learned a while back to trust the vigilante's gut.

Suddenly, laughter echoed around the alley. "So we meet again, Viridian. And who's your friend?"

"Nobody you need to worry about." Viridian answered confidently back, but Shouta could see the tensing of his muscles.

"Someone you know?" Shouta loosened his Capture Weapon.

"You could say that."

"I still haven't forgiven you for what you _did to me_." The voice—which Shouta now recognized as distinctly feminine—held a hard edge.

"Aw, don't hold it against me?" Viridian shrugged half-heartedly. "It was nothing personal, you understand. You're just not my type."

"YOU BROKE MY HEART!"

"Are you serious?" Shouta gave the vigilante an incredulous look. "She's your ex?"

"Not really, I mean, she confessed to me, and I turned her down."

"I GAVE YOU MY HEART! And you THREW IT AWAY! You never even gave me the _chance_! I've idolized you from the moment you first started fighting crime! Viridian! Why won't you love me!?"

"Because I'm gay, sweetie." Viridian was slowly backing them out of the alleyway, but his answer made Shouta startle a bit. He hadn't expected the vigilante to just come out and say something like that so plainly.

"Then I'll _make you love me_, or you'll _die._"

_Okay, not a jealous ex, but a crazy stalker. Noted._ Shouta wondered if the vigilante dealt with this kind of shit often.

The woman leapt out of the shadows; her bright red hair gleaming in the moonlight. Her hair stiffened into blades for an instant as she threw them out like spears towards Viridian. Shouta activated his Quirk, erasing hers.

"What the?!"

Viridian didn't let their advantage go to waste as he kicked her hard, throwing her back against the wall.

She quickly recovered, and threw down a smoke screen, obstructing Shouta's vision. _Damnit._

"I know you… You're Eraserhead. You can erase Quirks just by looking at someone. Impressive—but useless in low-visibility environments against a long-range fighter." She paused a moment. "So… you're his boyfriend, then?"

Shouta and Viridian both choked on their spit. "He's like a brother to me!" Viridian protested.

"He's a _coworker_." Shouta protested at the same time. _Brother?_ He mentally questioned the vigilante, but had to dodge out of the way of the woman's hair spears. One scratched his cheek, and he winced.

"You okay?" Viridian asked as the two pressed their backs together.

"Just a scratch." Shouta assured him.

"Good. Then you won't mind if I do _this_!" A moment later, Shouta was in the air above the alleyway, being dragged along by Viridian.

The two landed atop the roof, and took off running. "Trust me, she's not someone to fight alone. There's a reason why I avoid her." Viridian said as they finally lost her.

Shouta opened his mouth to say something, when Viridian gasped in pain. He whipped around sharply to see him crouched on the rooftop, hand clutching his side which was bleeding profusely.

"Viridian!" Shouta was by his side immediately, assessing the injury. It was deep, and would undoubtedly need stitches.

"I'm fine." The vigilante panted. "Just a scratch."

"Just a…" Shouta shook his head in disbelief. "I'm taking you to a hospital." He moved to scoop up the injured man, who staggered to his feet.

"Nope. Sorry, Shouta. No-can-do. Hospitals and I don't mix."

"I don't care if you mix or not, you need medical attention. I can call Recovery Girl, if you don't want to go to a hospital."

"And I'll get medical attention. At home." He smirked as he leaned backwards off the edge of the roof. "See ya later, Eraserhead~!"

Shouta ran to the edge of the building, but found no trace of the vigilante. "Damnit. He's just too good at disappearing." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You'd better be okay."

**_LetMeSleep: Guys, Viridian's hurt again._**

**_Fury: What happened?!_**

**_LetMeSleep: We ran into some crazy stalker of his who attacked us. When we got away—Viridian dragged me away from the fight—I realized he had a deep gash on his left side. He was losing a lot of blood. _**

**_Fury: Bring him to the hospital; we'll meet you there. _**

**_LetMeSleep: Would if I could, but he ran off._**

**_Tsuragamae: Again?_**

**_Fury: Why does he always run off when he's hurt?_**

**_LetMeSleep: He said 'Hospitals and I don't mix' and then jumped off the side of the building. No sign of him. He's just too damn good at covering his tracks._**

**_Fury: ViridianChaos you'd better be okay. Let us know you're at least alive._**

**_Tsuragamae: Whelp. Here's to another sleepless night. _**

* * *

Viridian stumbled into the clearing of his home. He was losing a _lot_ of blood, and shit wasn't looking good. Honestly, shit was looking kind of fuzzy and unfocused.

"Izuku!" Keigo rushed to his side.

"Kei? What're you doing here?"

"Bad feeling. Glad I came." He scooped up the injured vigilante and carried him inside. Keigo wasted no time in clearing the table and getting out the supplies needed. "Shit, why do you always do this to me?"

"I can stitch myself up." Izuku protested.

"Nope. What kind of brother would I be if I let you do this yourself?" He shook his head and started to get to work. "Jeez, and just a week before your first day at U.A., too. Won't Aizawa be suspicious?"

"Probably." Izuku winced as Keigo pulled the stitches a little too tightly.

"Sorry."

"No apologies for saving my life."

"Fine." Keigo was going to say something else, but Izuku was well on his way to passing out. "Damnit. Wake up at a decent hour, tomorrow, would ya?"

"Thanks, Kei."

"Anytime, Zu."


	8. Chapter 8: Suspicions

**_A/N: Hello everyone! Day... erm... What is it? 6? 7? 8? I really can't remember. Oof. Still on tiktok. Somehow, on day 3 or 4 of having a tiktok, I've already got 130 followers. Wha? I have a feeling most of that is you guys~ Thanks! :) Glad you find my Aizawa cosplay so interesting. (Still in said cosplay as I update. Haha. _**

**_So... is it bad that I haven't eaten anything but half a pretzel today? And it's now 8:30pm, and I had a sandwich two days ago, and a handful of dry cereal yesterday? I'm kinda bad at remembering to eat, sometimes. oof. I love food, don't get me wrong—I just dislike spending money on food. And putting forth effort to _****obtain****_ said food. Especially when I could be writing or sleeping instead. *shot* _**

**_Also! if you have fanart or something, send it to aizawa (I know, I can't believe that it wasn't taken, either. But now it's mine. Oddly enough, Eraserhead was taken, but Aizawa was not. HA! FIRST!) I've been so impressed with all the Swan Dive fanart I've been getting! Now I need to figure out how people on AO3 do those links... *muttermuttermuttermutter*_**

**_Hope you enjoy this next chapter of Viridian! Now, about pairings... I've had several people across different stories ask me about this. As a general rule, I don't pair my MC with other people. Actually, Erasermic was my first time writing a romantic relationship out. Sooo... no worries, there. Izuku's not going to have someone for a while, if at all. Romance will never be a main focus of my stories. If it does happen to show up, it will be neither forced, nor intentional, nor a major aspect of the story. :) So please read on without worry! (Besides, pairing Viridian or the Robin's Nest Izuku would be a headache and a half due to time-travel and mind-age vs physical age. What's considered 'too old' and 'too young' in that case? Not touching that.) _**

**_As always, stay safe out there! Corona is getting worse in many places, and I hope everyone stays healthy. Jamba isn't doing much for their employees, but Chipotle gave us all a 10% pay increase for working in these conditions. :) I'm cool with that. _**

* * *

Shouta wasn't sure what to expect from this year's crop of students. Last year, he'd expelled his entire class, and he wasn't above doing the same to this one. He was already in a bad mood, and he blamed Viridian wholeheartedly.

That idiot had gotten himself seriously wounded about a week ago, when they ran into his crazy stalker, and he _hadn't_ been replying to anyone on the group chat. Shouta had been unable to find him in _any_ hospitals or clinics, meaning that the guy was either being treated by someone privately (he hoped) or was doing it himself—again. He hoped Viridian had just damaged his phone again. Maybe Shouta should get him a hero-grade phone instead? Those were durable as hell, for this _exact_ reason.

With a sigh, he fished out his phone to send the vigilante another text.

**_LetMeSleep: ViridianChaos, I swear to god, if you don't reply to one of us, I'm going to hunt you down after school and drag you to a goddamned hospital myself._**

As if he hadn't already been driving himself up the wall searching every crevice of Musutafu he knew—he even searched the _South Side_ each night!

**_Fury: Still no sign of him on my end, either._**

Shouta wouldn't admit it aloud, but he enjoyed the man's company, and possibly even considered him a friend. Not that he'd tell anyone that.

So knowing that his maybe-friend was hurt somewhere, and the fact that he hadn't seen him on patrol for several nights put Shouta in a pretty foul mood. His fuse was short enough _without_ having to deal with a bunch of unruly teenagers who think they're hot stuff.

He eyed his class from his position on the floor. The fluffy-haired kid, Midoriya, had noticed him _instantly_. _That_ put Shouta on-guard, because he was in stealth mode—the kind he used on underground _missions_. _Nobody_ noticed him in stealth mode. _Seriously, what _is_ this kid?!_

He carefully nodded in acknowledgement of the brat before he stood up, garnering the attention of the rest of the class.

"Eight seconds. It took you all that long to settle down. Time is precious, do not waste mine." He sent them a level look, climbing out of his comfortably warm sleeping bag. "My name is Aizawa Shouta, and I'll be your homeroom teacher for the duration of your time here at U.A." He pulled out their gym uniforms. "Now put these on and meet me outside on the field." With that, he walked out, stuffing his sleeping bag into his pocket (because Hizashi was amazing and got him the kind that folds up into the size of a phone).

As he made his way outside, he felt his phone buzz.

**_ViridianChaos: Sorry I've been offline for a bit. My phone got damaged when I got hurt. No need to worry, I'll be back on patrol within a night or two~ I didn't even have to stitch myself up this time! And Eraser, it's not like you could find me if you tried. :P_**

Shouta let out a breath of relief, alongside a sigh of irritation.

**_Fury: Damnit, Viridian! You're legally helping us, now. If you get hurt, we can let you see _actual_ medical help! We won't even make you remove your mask._**

**_ViridianChaos: Sorry, old habits die hard. Besides, I've got someone to help patch me up, so don't worry so much~!_**

**_LetMeSleep: Yes, well, we don't want_ _you to die, so let us help you when you're fucking hurt. I swear you're as bad as my first years. _**

**_ViridianChaos changed LetMeSleep's name to Dadzawa_**

**_Dadzawa: What is this? _**

**_ViridianChaos: I thought it was clever. Since you're like the dad of our little group. _**

**_Fury: Then what am I? _**

**_ViridianChaos: The mom. Want me to change your name too?_**

**_Fury: Forget I asked. _**

Shouta hid his smile in his Capture Weapon as he pocketed his phone and waited for his students. That was _one_ weight off his shoulders. Maybe he _wouldn't_ expel his entire class. _Maybe_.

Midoriya was the first kid out there. It'd taken him only a minute or so to come running out to meet him (and Shouta noticed something slightly off with his gait, like he was hurt). He raised an eyebrow. Though he'd implied that time was of the essence, most kids didn't pick up on that. Midoriya, once again, seemed to be the exception. _I have the feeling I should get used to this…_

He impatiently shifted from one foot to the other as the other 19 students slowly trickled out, talking amiably amongst themselves. He resisted the urge to glare/sigh.

He started speaking, giving his usual speech about how the system was illogical for disregarding Quirks and pretending everyone was equal. One girl, Uraraka, if he recalled correctly, had the guts to interrupt him and ask about orientation.

"We don't have time to waste on pleasantries like that. I've got three years to make heroes out of you, and every minute counts. U.A. is known for its freeform education. This applies to teachers, as well. That means I can teach you however I want, and I don't have to stick to government-issued standards." He waited a moment to make sure nobody else was going to interrupt him.

"You're familiar with these tests, you've been doing them all your life. Ball throws, endurance runs, grip tests, toe touches… This time, you can use your Quirks."

He called up Bakugo, the kid with the second highest score in the Entrance Exam. Normally, he'd call up the kid with the highest score, but Midoriya was Quirkless and thus pointless for the purpose of this demonstration.

He watched the familiar looks of awe as the children realized that they'd be allowed to use their Quirks however they saw fit.

"This is going to be fun!" Ashido squealed, making Shouta twitch. Oddly enough, he noticed Midoriya send her a glare of his own.

"Fun? You think this'll be fun? All right, then, let's up the stakes. The person with the lowest score across the board will be expelled." He smirked into his Capture Weapon as the class dissolved into panic. Midoriya clenched his fists in… was that anger? Determination? No, it was something more… Desperate.

Before Shouta could look any deeper into his student's unusual reactions, his ears picked up someone crying about how unfair this whole thing was. He was about to open his mouth when he heard Midoriya _laugh_.

It was a dark laugh, humorless. It sent a chill down Shouta's spine. "Unfair? Hate to burst your bubble, but _life_ is unfair. You think hurricanes and earthquakes are fair? Bombings? _Villains_? Listen, I know yo- we're kids, but that's no reason to be so naïve. As heroes, it's our job to _make_ things fair. We take the brunt of the unfairness so the civilians can rest easy and pretend that life is kind and they can stay blissfully ignorant of the pain and death we'll face _every day._" He must've noticed that the class was staring at him either wide-eyed or in complete disregard.

"He's right." Shouta spoke up, startling the class. He wasn't going to lie. The kid's speech worried him more than he was willing to admit. But he was damn good at keeping his expression neutral, so he decided to pick up where he left off. "It's a hero's job to level the playing field. Villains won't go easy on you just because you're having an off day. You can't take sick-days as a hero, either. Once you debut, you're in. And the only way out is retirement or death." He made sure the kids at least_ heard_ him, even if they didn't yet understand. (He ignored the eerie stare of Midoriya, how those eyes _understood_ what he'd said, because it made his concern for the child spike again).

Without further ado, he started the assessment. He'd honestly expected Midoriya to lag behind a bit, what with him lacking a Quirk. Not that he'd expected him to necessarily be dead last (because there were plenty of people in this class with Quirks that couldn't be used here), but he certainly hadn't been expecting him to place in the _top six_.

His physical capabilities were shocking, and the fact that he _actually_ outlasted everyone in the endurance run had him reeling. Because though the kid looked utterly exhausted after the run, he'd had this look in his eyes. Like he had something to actually lose if he'd stopped. And for a moment, Shouta swore he'd seen the fear of death in those eyes, but he shook it off.

Midoriya was _definitely_ concerning him. Just _what_ had this child been through? Because it was looking like his initial thoughts on the kid were accurate—he truly did look and act like a _soldier_. When Shouta had him do something, he'd do it to the best of his abilities. He was pushing himself far harder than the other students were. It was as if Shouta had threatened to kill someone dear to him if he'd failed the assessment. (He _prayed_ that there wasn't some villain who was holding someone hostage over Midoriya's head with the instructions to make it into U.A.)

There were also several times that Shouta noticed he would wince, or flinch (especially during the toe touches). Again, he suspected that the kid was hurt. Though the winces were minor, so Shouta doubted it was anything major, as kids this age tended to have fairly low pain tolerances. Then again, Midoriya might have an abnormally _high_ pain tolerance, for all he knew.

But if Midoriya had gone to the hospital for anything, then Shouta would've been informed, so either it was nothing serious, or the kid was an idiot who didn't get an injury treated (not unlike a certain vigilante). Either way, unless something drastic happened, like he broke a bone or started bleeding out, he wasn't going to draw any unnecessary attention to the kid. He'd give him a slip to see Chiyo after class if the kid wanted to.

There was an incident, while Kirishima was doing his ball-throw… Bakugo had been glaring at Midoriya all morning, and he finally seemed to act on it.

"Deku." Shouta blinked at the nickname (he vaguely noted the red-head, Kirishima, blink in recognition at the nickname). The way he said it indicated that it was an insult. He was sensing a history here that he didn't like. "I don't know how the hell you cheated your way into U.A., but someone like _you_ shouldn't be here."

"I got in the same way as you—by passing the Entrance Exams." Midoriya answered back. He didn't seem intimidated by the other boy, which made the blond even more angry, but Shouta noticed the clenched fist of the Quirkless child. He didn't _seem_ scared, but there was obviously some sort of trauma there. Bakugo started to fire up his Quirk as he made to throw a punch, and that was all Shouta needed to see.

He erased Bakugo's Quirk, and restrained him with his Capture Weapon.

"That's enough. I will _not_ tolerate infighting in my class. If you're going to fight, do it in a spar. This is your _only _warning." He blinked and released his hold on the simmering student. _They seem to have some negative history. I'll need to keep an eye on them both._ _And I swear, if this kid starts bullying anyone, I'll have him expelled faster than Nezu can make a cup of tea. _

Shouta also mentally noted to talk to Hound Dog about getting Bakugo anger management classes.

Finally, he showed the results. Mineta was dead last. Honestly, Shouta didn't like how he'd been oogling the girls in the class, and though his record was clean, he had the feeling that someone had pulled a few strings to make it such.

Said kid was now on the ground sniveling and crying like a pathetic infant. _I might've actually spared him, if he'd had the decency to handle this graciously. But I honestly can't imagine this kid ever becoming a hero. His potential is zero._

"Mineta. Head to the front desk to fill out your paperwork. You're Expelled." He stated firmly, and a few students looked at him wide-eyed.

"Y-you mean you were _serious_?!" Yaoyorozu gasped in shock.

"What part of 'last place is expelled' was unclear?" Shouta sent her a mild glare. "I have no qualms about expelling students who have zero potential. And you all may have proven yourselves to me _today_, but if I catch any of you getting complacent, I won't hesitate to cut you. I've expelled third years before." He warned, taking no small amount of pleasure in watching them stiffen. _Good. Be afraid. Let that motivate you to do better. _

"These next three years, we're going to push you to your limits and beyond—Plus Ultra style. Keep showing me your best, and you'll become heroes one day. Now go, and make sure you grab your syllabus on your way out." He waved his hand in a shoo motion as he walked away.

"Oh, and Midoriya." The kid froze for a moment, looking uncomfortable. "Here. If you're hurt, go see Recovery Girl." He handed over a nurse pass.

"R-right. T-thank you, sensei." He bowed awkwardly before leaving Shouta to grab his syllabus. _Interesting. He seems to hold little faith in teachers. It's likely that nobody bothered to stop the bullying before. _

He entered the Teacher's Lounge with a heavy sigh, even as Present Mic greeted him boisterously. "Sooo… Do you still have a class this year?"

"Yes, I have 19 students remaining." Shouta announced, and several of his coworkers relaxed.

"You were right terrifying last year, when you came in after the first day announcing that you no longer had a class to teach." Snipe chuckled.

"No kidding. I thought you were joking until Nezu confirmed it." Midnight shook her head. "So who'd you expel?"

"Mineta Minoru." Shouta poured himself a cup of coffee as he curled up on the couch next to Hizashi. "Kid has no potential as a hero."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" All Might's brows knitted together in concern.

"We have a tough job. If someone doesn't make the cut, it's better to send them home crying than dead." Shouta defended his decision, making the other man wince.

"I suppose I see your point." He conceded. "How'd the Quirkless kid do? Did he pass?"

"Midoriya placed sixth, actually." Shouta ignored the look of shock that painted the Number One Hero's face. He wondered if perhaps the man had something against Quirkless people, but then All Might smiled a little. _Or maybe he's biased. I'll need to make sure he doesn't treat Midoriya differently than his classmates—negatively or positively. _

Shouta hesitated before pulling out his tablet. Whenever he performed assessments, Nezu wanted him to record his class. Mostly, it was so that he could justify any expulsions that occurred, but it was also to record their progress. "But the kid's… interesting. And concerning."

"Oh?" Hizashi leaned in closer. "Concerning how?"

"I'm not sure… He's…" Shouta paused, trying to find the right words. "There's something off with him. Like he's been through…" He shook his head. "I'll just show you."

His coworkers gathered around. It wasn't often that a kid had left Aizawa Shouta at a loss for words, so they were intrigued.

When he pulled up the video, they heard Shouta's explanation about expulsion, and how one kid called him out on being unfair. A few staff members snorted in amusement at that.

But then Midoriya laughed. And just like Shouta, the pros in the room felt a chill run down their spine. That laugh was dark and heavy, filled to the brim with something they couldn't quite name.

"No kid should laugh that way." Ectoplasm shuddered as Thirteen nodded. It made their heart hurt. It was so… _desolate_.

"Unfair? Hate to burst your bubble, but _life_ is unfair. You think hurricanes and earthquakes are fair? Bombings? _Villains_? Listen, I know yo- we're kids, but that's no reason to be so naïve. As heroes, it's our job to make things fair. We take the brunt of the unfairness so the civilians can rest easy and pretend that life is kind and they can stay blissfully ignorant of the pain and death we'll face _every day._"

Shouta turned off the recording, leaving his coworkers speechless. "See what I mean? Something deeper is going on here… kid sounds like he's speaking from experience."

"That's strange." Midnight's eyes were narrowed. "He said 'I know we're just kids', but I think he was going to say 'I know _you're_ just kids'…"

"Maybe you should show this to Hound Dog." Thirteen suggested.

"I plan to, but I wanted to give you all a heads up. I don't think Midoriya's up to anything bad, but it's entirely possible that we're dealing with a traumatized kid, here." Shouta sighed as he laid back on the couch. He didn't want to deal with this. He wanted to expel his class again. The free time last year was _amazing_.

Either way, he was stuck with this class for now. He just hoped that whatever Midoriya was dealing with wasn't something that would come back around and bite them all in the ass.

_Goddamnit. I just jinxed it, didn't I?_

Shouta swore he heard the universe laugh.

* * *

Izuku sighed as he made his way through the mounds of trash. He'd managed to slip away without having to socialize with anyone. He felt a little bad, because he was pretty sure that Kirishima was GayAFanimeBoi's brother, but he was emotionally _exhausted_. Not only was he around Aizawa (which he was used to again, because of the constant patrols as Viridian), but he was also constantly in the general area of Hizashi. He even glimpsed _Power Loader_, and that was _hard_.

Yeah, he was not in the headspace to talk to people. But school was done, and he was blessedly alone. He smiled lightly to himself as he kicked open the door to his camper. Now, he could…

Keigo was lazing on his couch with a bag of potato chips and a laptop streaming Netflix.

"Welcome home." Keigo greeted.

"Tadaima." Izuku deadpanned. "Why are you in my house?"

"Calling it a _house_ is a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"

"Don't you have an agency to run?" _So much for alone time._

"They can handle themselves." Keigo waived him off. "So how was the first day of school?"

"Pretty good… Though I think I pulled my stitches." Izuku pulled up his shirt with a wince.

"Damnit, Zu! That was almost healed!" Keigo groaned. "Come here, let me look."

With a sigh, Izuku removed his shirt completely, allowing Keigo to assess the wound. He realized idly that this was the first time Keigo had been able to see his entire torso without it being covered in blood.

"God… Izuku, you have so many scars…" Keigo lightly trailed his fingers over one that stretched from his left collarbone to his right hip, causing Izuku to shiver lightly. He'd gotten that nasty one from a White Nomu.

"I've been through a lot of shit, Kei."

"One day, I hope you'll trust me with the whole story." Keigo answered after a long moment, and Izuku let out a sigh of relief. He was beyond grateful that the other man didn't press the issue. "Now hold still while I fix the damage you did by running around like an idiot."

"Hey! I'll have you know that Aizawa _made_ me run around like an idiot!"

"Only because you didn't inform him of your injury."

"Oh, and I suppose you have a good cover story for this?" Izuku gestured to the injury and all the scars that adorned his torso.

"Uh…"

"Exactly. I can't just say 'oh, yeah! Please ignore all these scars! I can't really explain it right now, so forget you saw anything.' I doubt a single teacher at U.A. would let this go."

"Well of course not." Keigo shook his head. "Most heroes wouldn't let it go. A 15-year-old kid with this many scars is _not_ okay."

"I should probably come up with some kind of cover story, shouldn't I?"

"I mean, with your luck, you'll end up in Recovery Girl's office by the end of the week."

"Yeah. I just hope I don't have any flashbacks." Izuku muttered under his breath.

"Flashbacks?"

"Er…"

"I've known you for how many months, now? I've never seen you have a flashback."

"It's different when I'm Viridian." Izuku explained. "When I put on the mask… It's like I'm dissociating a bit. Like my mask protects me. I'm not _Midoriya Izuku_, anymore. I'm not _the Quirkless freak_ or the _useless subhuman_ that everyone calls me." He ignored the wince of the winged man. "I'm the Vigilante Viridian. I'm strong, and I can fight crime, and… and what bothers _Izuku_ doesn't bother _Viridian_… My past can't haunt me as easily."

"So your triggers don't send you into flashbacks when you're in your vigilante mode, but when you're in your civilian mode…?"

"Yeah. It's strange, but I suppose I'm just that kind of messed up, you know?"

"I don't think you're 'messed up'. I think it makes you human." Keigo pulled Izuku into a hug. "Don't ever call yourself a freak or a subhuman. I don't care what other people say. Quirked or Quirkless, it's who you are that matters."

"H…Hey, Kei?"

"Yeah, Zu?"

"I'm glad you're my brother."

"So am I."


	9. Chapter 9: Explosions and Flashbacks

_**A/N: Hello everyone! Hope today finds you healthy and not too bored. I've got work in about four hours, and my boss has emailed us all notes to show to cops if we get pulled over for being out during Curfew. Which is now apparently a thing. oof. On the other hand, that means no traffic? **_

_**So... get your tissues ready, because we finally have some flashbacks in this chapter~! :D I love writing death scenes. **_

_**I really want crepes right now, but there's nowhere to get them. :( **_

_**This chapter is 9.6k words, so I hope you really enjoy it! :) I know it was fun to write! I also added in a few more familiar faces last-minute, and I'm liking how this is going. ^^ USJ is next chapter, and I'm debating on keeping what I have or rewriting it to work with something else... Hm... Maybe an omake? Idk. But that doesn't matter right now, because you all want to read the chapter. **_

_**So, ENJOY~! **_

* * *

Izuku ran swiftly and silently, taking as many confusing and sharp turns as he could. His heart was pounding in his throat as he _swore_ he felt the hot breath of the Nomu on the back of his neck. He didn't dare turn to look as a fresh wave of adrenaline hit his system, giving his exhausted muscles a renewed energy. He recognized the broken down music store on the corner and immediately whipped into an alleyway, praying it was still there.

He let out a mental cheer as he jumped for the fire escape. He started climbing before he even got a proper grip, and the sound of claws against the brick wall made him shudder. It was so close he could feel the ghost of the claws on his leg. _Too close._ He made record time clambering up onto the rooftop. Most of them were shit climbers, but that didn't really matter when they could topple the entire building.

It was just his luck that he'd managed to run into a _white_ Nomu. They were wicked fast, and had ungodly sharp hearing. Luckily, this one had some kind of permanent injury, so it wasn't _quite_ as fast as it should've been. Izuku made quick time jumping from rooftop to rooftop. He winced as he jostled his injured arm. He had it tied with a strip of fabric he'd lucked upon off some guy's remains. Sure, it wasn't the most _sanitary_ option, but it was certainly better than leaving a blood trail that'd lead them straight to his group.

He zigzagged as much as he dared across the rooftops, unsure if the sounds he was hearing on street level was the Nomu or his imagination. When he felt relatively confident enough, he stopped on a rooftop, bunkering down and hiding behind some old rubbish.

His heart was pounding. He could _feel_ the blood in his entire body, from fingertips to the crest of his head. He took several long quiet breaths to calm his heart as much as he dared as he listened for the Nomu.

It was twenty minutes before he felt safe enough—nothing was safe anymore. Safety was _false—_to leave his hiding spot and head back.

He thanked his lucky stars when he managed to roof hop back to base safely. The adrenaline was quickly leaving his system by that point, and he'd nearly fallen off a rooftop _twice_ as he made his way back. He even had a scraped chin for his efforts.

He carefully picked the lock and let himself in. The room was dark and dank and covered in years of dust. He was careful to disturb as little of it as possible, holding his old weathered backpack close to his chest.

He only relaxed minutely when he stumbled his way down into the basement. "Sho? Zashi? I'm back." His whisper sounded like a scream in the quiet. A moment later, he heard a small knock. Just as quickly, he lightly tapped out a specific pattern. A near silent sigh of relief sounded as the door quietly swung open, allowing Izuku access.

"Took ya long enough, Little Listener." Hizashi smiled as he ruffled the tangled green locks, closing and locking the door tightly behind him.

"Well _sorry_… The place was _crawling_ with Nomu." He shuddered lightly. "I saw two White Nomu, too. We should stay hidden for a bit."

"White Nomu?" Shouta tilted his head, gesturing for Izuku to come forward so he could treat his injuries. He collapsed into a chair, letting his screaming muscles rest at _last_. Hizashi took pity on him and handed him a bottle of water. Izuku idly noted that they'd need to boil more water soon.

"Oh, that's right, Shou. You haven't seen them." Hizashi noted idly. "They're the fast-moving ones. They're really thin and not nearly as strong as the darker Nomu, but…"

"But they've got the claws and fangs to kill." Izuku finished with a shudder, remembering how one had effortlessly caught up to some guy with a speed Quirk and tore him in half.

"Right. We're staying _far_ away from that one." Shouta grimaced.

"Agreed. At the very least, they're mostly blind, so as long as you're quiet, you're safe." Hizashi smiled softly as he kissed Izuku on the forehead. "You know, it's almost domestic."

"Ha…" Izuku laughed dryly. "I suppose you're right. You know, except for the fact that I'm in my thirties." He flopped down on the chair. The room was rather large, thanks to Power Loader's help before he died. Izuku's eyes drifted over to the sleeping occupants in the room, before Shouta spoke again.

"Shush, Problem Child. You're still a kid to us."

"Yeah, because you two are _old_." Izuku snickered as Hizashi laughed and Shouta glared half-heartedly.

"Any trace of her?" Shouta finally asked, and the room turned somber. Several 'sleeping' people shifted, and Izuku knew they were listening. He swore he saw Dabi's eye crack open, too.

"No… I found nothing." Izuku clenched his fists in frustration, as Hizashi glared at the ground. "I'm sorry."

"No, Little Listener, it's not your fault." Hizashi pulled him into a gentle hug. "Nemuri is strong, I'm sure she'll be okay."

Shouta and Izuku didn't bother to correct him. They shared a despairing look over Hizashi's shoulder. They both knew the odds. Nemuri was most likely dead. Once Shigaraki got you, you were _lucky_ to be dead. And if you weren't, then you became a Nomu.

Izuku's heart clenched at the thought of Nemuri—his first true mother figure—becoming a monster like that.

"You're hurt—let me take a look at that arm." Hizashi realized, carefully unwrapping the injury that Shouta hadn't gotten to yet.

"You can stop pretending to sleep, Dabs." Izuku called out, looking at the dark-haired youth.

"You're too observant, brat." Dabi sighed as he sat up and stretched. "Hey, elf. Wake up, Izu's back."

The other occupant in the room cracked open an eye. "Izu?"

"Hey, Tamaki. How was your nap?"

"You look like shit." He deadpanned, and Izuku cracked a smirk.

"You look like Shou."

"I'm so done with you both." Shouta sighed, as Hizashi laughed.

The five of them were all that was left of a group that was once nearly twenty strong. Things were looking worse and worse by the day, and even now, after _years_ of this shit, Izuku still couldn't wrap his head around the reality that was now their world. He sometimes kept expecting to wake up at home, but he knew it would never happen. He'd likely never see _anyone_ outside of this group again.

Though he'd heard whispers years ago about an underground resistance group… he wondered if they were still alive?

Izuku looked at the people that surrounded him. Hizashi Yamada, once a pro-hero known as Present Mic. His once long blonde hair was stringy and dirty, and had been cut off at his shoulders for safety after he was nearly killed when it caught in a Nomu's mouth. That same incident caused damage to his left knee. With no way to properly treat it, it healed wrong. He had a permanent limp, but the cane Shouta had stole for him _did_ look pretty kickass. He was filthy, and his clothes were ragged. Izuku couldn't tell what color they were supposed to be anymore. He didn't wear his glasses anymore, and his lip and ear piercings stood out against his pale, dirty skin.

Aizawa Shouta, also a former pro hero called Eraserhead, was Hizashi's husband. He'd been after Izuku back when he'd been a vigilante, and he was _very_ good at his job. His black hair hung around his shoulders, unkempt, knotted, and filthy. The bags under his eyes looked more like bruises at this point, and the ever-present air of exhaustion around him seemed to have amplified over the past few months in particular. His stubble was becoming a short beard, and he was also covered in grime and filth.

Dabi was a former villain. He didn't tell them his original name, but he'd once confessed to Izuku that he was the eldest son of the old pro Endeavor. He'd run away due to abuse, and faked his own death. Izuku had to give him props for that, he wasn't sure he'd have the guts to fake his own death like that. Turned out, in the apocalypse, titles like hero and villain really didn't matter to anyone. What mattered was how you could contribute to the group. And Dabi had a surprisingly vast knowledge of medicine. If it weren't for Dabi, Izuku probably wouldn't be alive right now. Like the others, he was also covered in filth. He was nursing a bad ankle, which is why he couldn't join Izuku on the food run, like he usually did.

Finally, they had Amajiki Tamaki, also a former pro known as Suneater. He'd been terribly unconfident and quiet when Izuku first met him. It reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger. He connected with Tamaki instantly, and the brooding elf-like man felt most comfortable and confident around Izuku. He'd gained a lot of confidence over these last few years, anxiety dropping down to manageable levels in the face of the end of the world. He often talked to Izuku about Mirio—his old friend who perished in the early Nomu attacks defending civilians.

"I'll start dinner." Shouta decided as he rifled through Izuku's backpack. He paused and stared incredulously at the box of Twinkies.

"What? _I_ went out on the food run. It's my special treat for putting my life in danger. I would've grabbed the Klondike bars, but they would've been melted by the time I got back."

"Only you." Dabi shook his head with a fond smile.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Izuku pouted.

"You really grabbed junk food? You _are_ a kid!" Hizashi ruffled his hair again.

"Zashi!" Izuku complained, making the blond grin.

"You _are_ the youngest, Izu." Tamaki pointed out. "You're like our baby brother—so let us fuss over you once in a while, okay?"

Izuku continued to pout, even as Shouta started to put dinner together. He was really happy with his family, no matter how much he missed those they'd lost. He just wished he could do more for them. He felt like he never contributed to them enough. Even so, he never wanted this moment to end. This peace. This happiness. They'd all lost so much… he didn't want to lose any more.

A moment later, the entire scene blurred. Suddenly, Izuku was outside, running with Shouta, and the cries of the Nomu reached up towards the deaf heavens like a terrifying symphony. Thunder rolled ominously in the background.

Izuku's nose itched with the far too familiar scent of blood.

Hizashi had gone out with Tamaki and Dabi to fetch some water. Normally, Zashi wouldn't go, but Tamaki had hurt his arm last week on a food run, and the last time they'd sent Dabi out to get water, he almost hadn't come back alive.

Hizashi, at the very least, could provide some long-range support. While his Quirk was ill-suited to this apocalypse—the Nomu were attracted to sound—he was a damn good shot with that crossbow he'd snatched a while back.

Izuku had known that Hizashi's main reason for insisting on going out was because he was tired of being useless. He understood that better than most. That frustration... being treated like glass… all because he had a bad leg. Hizashi had lasted quite a while, but they'd all known he was going stir-crazy locked up in the base. Shouta tried his best to stay behind with him as often as he could, but even he went out on runs with Izuku often. With only four able-bodied people, they couldn't risk benching someone.

But then Izuku had gotten a _really_ bad feeling, and he and Shouta had run out to find them. Tamaki and Dabi were nowhere to be found, but Hizashi had been hiding behind a building where several Nomu were lurking.

"Zashi." Shouta whispered urgently, and the blond looked _beyond_ relieved to see them. His pupils were dilated with fear and pain. His bad leg was bloodied, and he was keeping weight off of it. "God, what happened?" Shouta pulled his husband into a hug.

"We were attacked." Hizashi shook. "I… I wasn't able to do anything. There were _White_ Nomu."

"I thought the river was usually safe?" Izuku felt fear grip his heart. Where were Tamaki and Dabi?

"Blue Nomu." Hizashi hissed. "One of them got… got Tamaki. Pulled him under the water." His face scrunched up in pain as he relived that moment, and Izuku's heart stuttered.

Blue Nomu—the water-based Nomu. They look like the old stories of sirens or man-eating mermaids. Fish-like tails and thin gangly bodies. Sometimes they're scaled, other times they have skin. They look like the sirens decided to mate with a waterlogged corpse. They were thin and polluted whatever water source they lived in. If you drank that water, you'd get _sick._ And if you died with that water still in your system, you'd _become_ a Nomu.

They also had the bad habit of dragging their victims beneath the surface and either drowning them or eating them alive underwater.

Tamaki… was gone. "W-what about Dabi?" Izuku asked, shoving his grief to the back of his mind. He could tink about his brother later.

"He ran off to distract the Nomu. Keep them away from me, but– I wasn't fast enough. One of them still got my leg. I killed it, but…" Hizashi winced.

"It'll be okay, Zashi." Shouta put his husband's arm around his shoulders to help support him as they walked. "Izuku, keep the Nomu off of us—we _need_ to get back to base."

"Right." Izuku nodded. Dabi would be fine. He was strong. They'd set up several meetup spots in case they got separated—they'd just pick him up later.

He would be _fine_. He rested his hand on the hilt of his sword—just to make sure it was still there.

The storm was swiftly descending upon them. Izuku's hair stood on end a moment before a blinding flash overtook his vision. The near-instantaneous clap of thunder shook the ground like an earthquake.

When he could finally see, he realized that lightning had struck _really_ close to them, and had set some of the trees ablaze. Heavy sheets of rain did nothing to snuff out the fire as it quickly grew, fed by the weeks of drought they'd suffered.

The fire blocked their quickest escape route, and the Nomu were agitated, now. The thunderclap had been loud enough that Izuku's ears were still ringing, and both Shouta and Hizashi looked to be in similar states.

Izuku caught movement from the corner of his eye and only _barely_ managed to block the claw from the White Nomu with his sword in time. A shiver ran down his spine as he stared into the tiny beady eyes that could only truly catch motion.

He'd gotten a lot faster and stronger than he'd been when he first encountered these things—but he could still only _barely_ keep up with them. This was _bad_.

He caught sight of Shouta herding Hizashi off to hide behind some rubble nearby just as Izuku noticed another Nomu joining the party.

It was tall, and stood on two legs. Black scales stretched halfway up the leg before it tampered off to skin. It was thin, but not sickly so like the White Nomu. Its brain was almost entirely exposed, sans a protective crown-like protrusion of bone around the base. A large snout indicated it was good at hunting by smell, and a long thin whip-like tail swished dangerously behind it, small bone-like blades glinted in the storm.

A Black Nomu. Just his fucking luck. They were _pack_ hunters. Judging by the size of the crown, this was a drone—one of the males. Izuku was never more grateful for his analysis skills in all his life. He'd studied the different types of Nomu years ago—the Black Nomu (not to be confused with the Dark Nomu) served a Queen, like bees. The workers, or Drones, hunted, but they seemed to have a sort of hive-mind with one another.

This was _bad_. Really, really _bad_. One White Nomu was survivable. But packs of Black Nomu could number anywhere from five to fifty—definitely not something he could survive alone.

He barely dodged the swipe from the White Nomu and parried the whip-like tail of the Black Nomu. But the White Nomu took advantage of his distraction and wrapped its own whip-like (thankfully non-bladed) tail around Izuku's arm, yanking him harshly to the ground.

He instinctively rolled, scarcely missing the White Nomu's killing strike, but found himself crying out in pain as the Black Nomu's tail got him in the arm.

He swiped at it, attempting to cut it off, but he missed it by a _hair_. He quickly assessed the damage. Nothing permanent—he could still use his arm, though strikes would be weaker. Blood trail was now a concern if he managed to escape. _Shit_.

It wasn't looking good.

He ducked under another tail whip from the Black Nomu, and ran at the White Nomu, feinting to the side as he managed to—somehow—lob off half it's tail. It'd be slower, now, as it adjusted to the loss of balance.

The White Nomu screeched, and Izuku heard the not-so-distant screeches of the other Black Nomu.

Reinforcements were on their way, and it wasn't for his side. He gritted his teeth as he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a claw-swipe from the White Nomu. He had to make a move, and make it _now_.

Izuku feigned dodging to the left, only to dive underneath the Black Nomu's legs. He scampered up its back in record time, scarcely holding on as it screeched in anger, trying to shake him off. The tail _nearly_ hit him, and he didn't hesitate in stabbing the brain.

He realized the moment it went in that the jostling had altered the trajectory—instead of stabbing it in the brain and killing it, it wedged itself between the brain and the skull. Non-fatal. Izuku was blind-sided by the Nomu's tail hitting his shoulder, knocking him off its back. He bit back a cry of pain as he hit the ground _hard_. The tail tore through his flesh and he _swore_ he felt it touch _bone_.

His eyes tracked the Black Nomu as it came in for the kill. He wasn't going to make it in time. _So this is how I die._ He realized. The thought startled him a bit. He'd joked about it before, but as the jaws of the Black Nomu unhinged, dividing into three parts, it really hit home.

He was going to **_die_**.

His eyes traveled to Shouta and Hizashi, who were still hiding behind the rubble, tears in their eyes as Hizashi held back Shouta, covering his mouth so he didn't attract attention. He was grateful—they were alive.

Izuku smiled at them. He was okay with this. As long as they survived… that was what mattered. That was all he needed.

Then, everything went white, and a searing heat burned the fine hairs of his arm. A sound far too loud to identify shook the ground beneath him. Was… was this _death_?

He felt something wrap around his leg and drag him across the ground. Shouta pulled him into a fierce hug, and it took him several minutes to understand what had occurred.

Lightning had struck the Black Nomu as it had been about to devour him. The failed kill-strike that had nearly cost him his life had acted as a lightning rod, saving him at the last possible second.

He was alive. He'd literally been saved by _chance_. What were the fucking odds? He felt like laughing. Or sobbing. Or… _something, _but he was in too much shock to process anything.

"…hear me? Izuku?" Hizashi whispered quietly, and he shook his head. Sound was returning to him.

"Yeah. I think so." He answered back quietly.

"Don't you _ever_ do something so stupid again. I thought we were going to lose you." Shouta had tears running down his face.

"So did I." Izuku admitted. A growling sound made him turn his attention to the three new Black Nomu that'd entered the scene. They sniffed at the body of their fallen packmate, and Izuku thanked the rain for making it harder to track scents.

Izuku looked around with a sinking feeling… they had no escape. Those Black Nomu would surround them first chance they got, and Izuku was in no shape to fight, now—especially when his only weapon (aside from a pair of daggers) was stuck in a dead Nomu's skull halfway across no-man's land and fried to a crisp. Shouta was good at escaping, and getting other people away, but he fought best against close-combat Nomu. Black Nomu fought long-ranged.

They were trapped. And with Hizashi's bad leg, there wasn't any way for him to move quickly enough to run.

"Izuku. Shouta. When I give the signal, you need to run." Hizashi's voice was quiet as he shook in his boots—whether that was the chill from the icy rain, or the fear, Izuku didn't know.

What the hell was he talking about? Izuku looked into Hizashi's eyes, and he _understood_. "No, Hizashi, you _can't_."

"Zashi!" Shouta shook his head with an urgent whisper, eyes filled with tears. "You idiot, come with us!"

"No, Shou… You know I can't. With my leg the way it is, I'll only slow you down." Hizashi smiled softly at him, before pulling Shouta into a kiss. "I love you, don't you _ever_ forget that."

Hizashi then tugged Izuku into a hug, as the greenette fought back his own tears. Izuku wanted time to pause. To just be held by Hizashi for eternity with Shouta's arms wrapped around them both, and then _everything would be okay._ But it _wasn't_ okay. The Nomu's growls told him that.

"I'm sorry." Izuku choked out. If he'd just been a little stronger. A little faster… if he'd fought a little _harder_… then Hizashi wouldn't have to do this.

This was all _Izuku's_ fault.

Hizashi looked Izuku in the eye. "Look after Shouta for me, would ya, Little Listener? I know my hubby's a lot to handle, but please… for my sake… look after him." He pressed something into Izuku's hand and shoved him back before dashing out of their hiding spot as quickly as he could—Shouta's hand missing him by _millimeters_—and letting loose an ear-shattering Quirk-enhanced scream, pushing back the three Black Nomu while attracting the attention of the White one. Distracting them from Izuku and Shouta. "**_RUN!_**"

Izuku clenched his fists, Hizashi's wedding ring digging into the palm of his hand as he made his choice. He picked up a struggling Shouta with strength he didn't know he had, and made a break for it.

He saw Hizashi smile brightly in relief even as the Nomu closed in on him. "Thank you, Little Listener."

"**_HIZASHI_**!" Shouta's bloodcurdling scream was cut short as Izuku knocked him out, leaving a trail of tears in their wake. "I'm _sorry_ Shouta." He whispered, his own eyes blurred with hot tears. "I'm so sorry." The sky continued to cry.

Izuku bolted upright in the camper on Dagoba beach, heart thudding in his chest. He took a moment to take a few shaky breaths. The echoes of the cries of the Nomu… the smell of blood in the air, and the absolute deafening silence of _everything_… The fact that it was raining outside didn't help, either.

"Stop it…" He forced himself to whisper, scratching at the sheets to make noise, even as thunder rumbled. _The jaw unhinged, and he looked his own death in the maw._ "It's not here… It's just a memory." He swallowed back his tears as he gently pulled out the pair of rings from under his shirt. The two clinked together quietly, though if one looked closely enough, one of the bands had dried blood crusted in the grooves of the metal.

The rings had Celtic like knots with a small stone set into the gold. One was green—Shouta's—and the other was purple—Hizashi's. Shouta's ring had a small cockatoo engraved with a music note in the shape of a heart, and Hizashi's had a cat with the same music note. They both had a phrase engraved that read, _'Forever in harmony.'_

"Zashi…" He brought his knees up to his chest. "Shouta…" The two had been like brothers… maybe close uncles… they were _family_ to him. And it was _so fucking hard_ to look at their younger selves and know that he was just another student to them. They'd never…

_Hizashi turned towards Izuku as the Nomu closed in on him. Even as one of the Black Nomu's bladed tails speared him through the middle—ensuring his fate. "Thank you, Little Listener." He smiled, as the_—

_"Stop it!_" He whispered to himself, louder this time. He took another shaky breath as he tried to stave off the tears and sobs. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him startle badly. He looked up into concerned golden eyes.

"Izuku?"

"Kei…go?" That was all he needed before he broke down into his friend's arms. The startled man wrapped his wings around the sobbing child, not understanding what was going on, but knowing that he needed the comfort.

It was such a relief—to _have_ someone there. He felt himself slowly coming back to _this_ reality. A reality where he could make a difference.

It took thirty minutes for Izuku to compose himself. "S-sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. It's bad to bottle things up like that, you know. If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

"I appreciate that, Kei… But I'm not sure if I _can_ explain anything right now…"

"I'm just saying. Whenever you're ready, so am I." Keigo then tossed Izuku's school uniform at him. "Now come on, you've got school in two hours."

Izuku groaned.

The USJ Incident was fast approaching. According to Shou, the third day of school—_tomorrow_—was when Shigaraki disintegrated the door to U.A., and stole the schedule that would lead to the USJ attack later that same day.

Shigaraki, himself, would show up at that attack. It was Izuku's best shot at killing the man, and preventing _everything_.

Both Shouta and Izuku had agreed that it was their best—perhaps only—shot. After that, Shigaraki had become much more cautious, and sent his underlings out to do his dirty work. If Izuku was going to kill him, it would have to be then.

He shook himself and dressed in his school uniform, readying himself for the day ahead. It would _have_ to be then.

Keigo looked at him with a smile as he handed Izuku a raincoat. "What's this?" Izuku raised an eyebrow. He didn't even know he _owned_ a raincoat.

"You had a rough night. Figured you'd wanna go for a flight." He smirked.

"I thought you hated flying in the rain?"

"I can make an exception." Keigo grinned.

* * *

Izuku sighed as he sat down in English class. The filght had helped more than he'd been willing to admit, and he _really_ had to thank Keigo for that. Hizash– _Yamada_-sensei was calling the room to attention. Izuku couldn't help the slight flinch at the loud noise, but masked it as a cough. He wasn't entirely sure if it'd fool the blond—despite appearances, Hiz– _Yamada_-sensei was rather observant. He knew he couldn't get away with just acting like it didn't happen. And every time he saw Yamada-sensei, Hizashi's bloodstained smile would overlap, and he just _couldn't_—

Izuku tried his hardest not to look at his teacher for too long.

Shou– _Aizawa_-sensei (damnit, that memory last night really fucked him up) must've noticed something off during the assessment the day before and warned the other teachers, because Yamada-sensei was discreetly watching him throughout the entire lesson. Though after the initial flinch, Yamada-sensei did lower his volume, for which Izuku was grateful.

Izuku made sure to do his best to stay under the radar. No sense in drawing any unnecessary attention when he was likely going to be expelled for killing a villain anyways. _Can they expel me for that if it's self-defense?_

Izuku kept that thought in mind all throughout morning classes. Once Lunch rolled around, he sped off towards the Library before any of his classmates could stop or follow him. He felt bad, seeing Kirishima's disappointed look, and made a mental note to talk to the kid later today.

It only took him eight minutes to find the book he was looking for, and a further 12 to find what he was looking for in said book. The book on Hero and Hero-in-Training Law…

_According to this… a hero is allowed to kill a villain so long as there's ample reason… Like the villain using lethal force, or the hero is dying or severely wounded… No wonder Endeavor can get away with charring his victims! Most villains use lethal force anyhow! And with the way this is worded… so long as _someone_ is in danger, hero, civilian, or hero-in-training, a hero is allowed to use lethal force, and cannot be held accountable for murder except under very specific circumstances._

_But this also applies to heroes-in-training under three conditions: 1, they are in an internship or something similar and their hero mentor or sensei gives them permission to attack. 2, they have a provisional license. 3… The hero-in-training is acting on the grounds of their Hero School…_

_And USJ is on U.A. grounds._ Izuku would later deny the very Eraserhead-like smile that graced his lips. _I can legally kill Shigaraki and stay in U.A. without retribution! I can still be a hero!_

His smile dimmed, as the images of fallen comrades and friends flashed behind closed eyelids. _I'll help as many people as I can…_ Shouta and Hizashi flickered across his mind, quickly followed by Nemuri, Dabi, and Tamaki. The ghost of Hizashi's hand ruffling his filthy bloodstained hair, and Shouta pulling him into a warm embrace as they grieved together for the loss of their sunshine.

Nemuri's soft laughter as she cooked breakfast for the hungry boys, smiling gently as her lips brushed Izuku's forehead in a way that he imagined a kind mother would do.

Dabi playfully shoving him in a way that made him feel like an older brother, while Tamaki played peacekeeper between them when things got too heated.

He remembered Power Loader teaching him things about support items that he'd never known before. They'd stay up into the wee hours of the night and well past sunrise working on projects together until someone—usually Fatgum—came to drag them out.

Hell, he even missed Quip—a fellow vigilante who he'd been rather close to before the apocalypse hit. Izuku had given him his Vigilante name, and it'd stuck.

He didn't realize he was crying until Ectoplasm—the current librarian—came over.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, handing Izuku a tissue.

He hastily wiped away his tears and took the proffered cloth. "Y-yeah. Sorry, I was just… missing someone."

"If you ever need to talk, I'm always here. People don't usually bother to come to the library."

Izuku hesitated a moment. Would it be stranger for him _not_ to say something? The man seemed genuine in his offer, and Izuku felt somewhat bad that he couldn't confide in anyone.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

Ectoplasm smiled softly—or at least Izuku got the impression he was smiling softly (he could tell, it was a mask thing)—before turning back to organizing his books.

Izuku quietly put his books back and made his way back to his classroom. He wasn't hungry anymore, and though he knew he'd probably regret this decision later, the memories of bloodstained friends twisted into unrecognizable corpses and the echo of the smell of iron made the thought of food revolting. Even if he _was_ dying to try Lunch Rush's food. And yeah, he was still fighting off the lingering effects of malnutrition, but he was good enough to fight as Viridian, so he'd manage a stupid heroics class. Besides, Keigo was making sure that he was putting the pounds back on.

He was the first person back in the classroom. Aizawa raised an eyebrow as he held a stack of papers under his arm. _Bright red eyes framed by blue hair glowed menacingly as a hand reached towards him, he was terrified, and knew that the only reason he was alive was because of Shouta._

Izuku shook his head sharply, dislodging the memory. Aizawa's eyes lit up in well-hidden concern, but Izuku smiled softly. " 'm just tired." He explained, and while he could tell that his half-assed explanation did _nothing_ to convince his sensei, said man still let it lie and continued out of the room, much to Izuku's relief.

Though Izuku caught a half-muttered, "I'm here if you need to talk."

Wow, teachers at U.A. really _were_ different. That's two that'd offered him an open ear if he needed it. And he was _Quirkless_! That's more than he'd had in his entire life—either of them.

Slowly, the class started to trickle in, and a few attempted to make small talk with him. He sighed when he realized that the teacher was going to be late.

"Hey, Midoriya!" Kirishima grinned. "You're the one my brother talked about, right? AnimeBoi is his username!"

"Yeah." Izuku smiled softly. "My screen name is Deku." He explained. "He told me to keep a lookout for you. Sorry it took so long. I'm kind of socially awkward."

"That's fine, my brother is, too." Kirishima grinned. "I think you're awesome, Midobro!"

"Mido…bro?" He blinked, unsure how to take the new nickname.

"So, Midoriya!" The pink girl, Ashido, excitedly leaned towards him, cutting off whatever Kirishima was going to say. "I _have_ to ask. What's your Quirk?!"

"My… Quirk?" Izuku blinked. Didn't they…? Oh. He didn't tell them. He opened his mouth to affirm that he did not have one when Bakugo decided to be an ass and do it for him.

"Deku?! Ha! That little wimp doesn't _have_ a Quirk. He's _Quirkless_. I have no idea how the fuck he managed to get into U.A."

"Quirkless?" Iida echoed, confused.

"Gee, thanks asshole." Izuku threw Bakugo a tired glare, startling the blond. "But yeah, I'm Quirkless. I still managed to get into U.A. same as the rest of you. So doubt me if you want, but just know that underestimating me will not end well for you." There was a glint in his eye that made the class falter.

"I think it's so manly! No Quirk and you _still_ got in?! Bro, you're _incredible_!" Kirishima grinned, taking Izuku aback.

"Um… _what_?" He blinked. He'd been so ready for the jeers and teasing, already having built the wall around himself in preparation… but… _what_?

"Yeah!" Kaminari grinned. Jiro gave him a thumbs up, too.

"I think you're very brave and _definitely_ someone I wouldn't underestimate on the battlefield. If you could take down those robots without a Quirk, then you must be a force to be reckoned with." Tokoyami said quietly.

"Though I gotta ask, _how_ did you beat them?!" Ashido was literally bouncing in her seat.

"Oh… I fight with a sword." Izuku explained.

"But you stopped the Zero Pointer and saved me!" Uraraka argued.

"Oh, that? I hacked it from a downed robot. I rewrote the code and initiated a force-shutdown for all nearby robots, including the Zero Pointer." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"You… Is that even _allowed_?!" Iida looked scandalized.

"Anything goes in a real battle. Even nutshots. At any rate, I don't think Nezu was angry about it… though I do have a meeting with him after school today." He rubbed his chin as he thought, idly missing his stubble.

Before anyone could say anything else, All Might strode in, making Izuku stiffen. _Great._

He ignored the long-winded explanation (or maybe it wasn't that long? Izuku didn't really pay any mind to it either way) before he grinned at his costume. _Perfect_.

His Hero Costume was one that he'd put a _lot_ of time and effort into. If he was really going to go the whole way and actually become a hero, then he would need to go into Underground Heroics (not that he minded, necessarily, that would've been his first pick anyways).

So with that in mind, he went with a darker color scheme. The dark green and black skin-tight suit allowed for ease of movement without the risk of loose clothing catching on anything. There were plenty of pouches and hidden pockets along his utility belt and his trusty black katana hung comfortably on his back. A pair of sai hung on his thighs. He had nothing covering his hair or face with the exception of a very Eraserhead-esque pair of black goggles that currently hung around his neck. They had night-vision qualities as well as heat seeking tech. Plus, they'd help keep smoke and dirt from obscuring his vision. His black boots had shock absorbers and hidden knives.

He may have looked similar to his Viridian persona, but there was little chance of them connecting the dots—not when he'd convinced Tsukauchi and Aizawa so wholly that Viridian was an adult.

In short, he looked unassuming at first glance, but he was actually armed to the teeth. Izuku smirked. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Okay, scratch that. This was going to _suck_. All Might had pitted him against _Bakugo_ of all people. Izuku didn't know how, but he had a feeling that it was either on purpose, or a 'lucky accident'. Either way, his teacher looked way too happy with the matchup. He supposed that All Might simply thought that the two were friends since they went to the same school, but…

Izuku was _not_ an idiot. He knew he had weak points and faults just like everyone else. He was just better at hiding them. Explosions—specifically the dust that they could easily kick up and collapsing buildings—and the ringing _silence_ that came thereafter was something that could easily pull him into a flashback. (He also _hated_ sudden loud noises, but explosions were the _worst_. He blamed childhood trauma.) He knew this, which is why he tried his best to stay away from Bakugo whenever possible.

It was also why he tended to do his vigilante work at _night_, when the flashier villains who would cause said explosions were _not_ out and about. Diurnal heroes could handle those villains themselves, anyhow.

Though there had been several times in the last four months that he'd had to act as Viridian during daylight hours (like that bank robbery incident last week)… Maybe that's why people were mistaking him for a hero? Because the police didn't arrest him for vigilantism?

"All Might?" Izuku asked quietly, making sure none of his classmates would overhear. "I was wondering if I could switch opponents. I know that normally this isn't allowed, but I have… bad reactions to explosions, and was going to talk to Hound Dog about working around it at the end of this week." Izuku was trying to be mature about this. He really was. After all, he knew, logically, that this fear of his was extremely dangerous in the field of heroism (never mind the fact that it didn't affect him nearly so badly as Viridian). However, that's what Hound Dog, the counselor, was for. He'd help Izuku work through them—even if he didn't want to talk about _anything_ to the man—and then Izuku would be cleared to do hero work in those situations. (He was still figuring out how to phrase everything to the man without sounding completely delusional).

He was waiting until the end of the week because he knew it could pose the risk of taking him off the USJ trip, which he _could not afford_.

All Might just smiled down at him. "I understand, my boy, but you cannot always choose what powers your enemies have. Even if it makes you uncomfortable, I ask that you still bear with the exercise. If things start getting out of hand, I'll stop it."

_He isn't taking me seriously._ Izuku sighed. "If that's your final decision." _Fuck you, too, dick._

Okay, so _maybe_ Izuku was being a little harsh. But he felt somewhat justified in his pettiness considering the man crushed his dreams. _Twice_. And yeah, he understood _why_ he'd done it, and even mostly agreed with the man, but Izuku was still bitter about the whole thing. And considering all that he'd been through, he felt that he was allowed to be petty. Besides, All Might could've phrased it better when he'd crushed his dreams. Or, you know, _not_ left the Quirkless kid alone on the _very_ tall building the same day he'd been suicide baited and had his dreams freshly crushed?

When the match started, Izuku took a deep steadying breath. "Uraraka." The girl looked at him. "Bakugo will come after me. I'll distract him to keep his heavy hits from you. Take this," he passed her a small canister, "It's a smokescreen." He smirked. "Try to use Iida's speed against him."

"Right!" Uraraka grinned, taking it from Izuku with a smile.

"GO!"

Like a flash, Izuku and Uraraka bolted into the building. As expected, Bakugo met them on the second floor, heading them off.

Izuku motioned for Uraraka to hide as he drew Bakugo's attention. "You never change, do you, Bakugo?"

"Shut the _hell_ up Deku! Since when do you even use my last name?!"

"_That's_ what's got you pissed?" Izuku sighed, as he saw Uraraka sneak up the stairs from the corner of his eye. "Bakugo Katsuki. We haven't been friends for a long time. I finally admit that now." He watched as the blond flinched.

"Like I'd ever be friends with a Quirkless reject like you!" He snarled, lunging forward with his all-too-familiar right hook.

Izuku easily dodged, catching his arm in a well practiced motion and used his sai to pin him to the floor. It would've ended there if Bakugo hadn't used his other hand to fire an explosion at the ground, breaking the floor and sending the two crashing to the room below.

Bakugo immediately jumped away and reared around to the offensive.

"So you've got some moves. Big deal!" Bakugo snarled. "You're still _nothing!_ You'll never be a hero!"

"Bakugo." Izuku flinched as another explosion went off. The smell of the dust that the explosion kicked up and the sound of the ceiling crumbling at the edges of the hole trudged up some rather nasty memories.

_"It'll be alright, kid." Maijima smiled as he patted Izuku's head. "You'll make it out of this." _

_"I-I'm not a kid." He protested through thick tears. "Come with me. The others will be worried." He flinched at the sound of a nearby Nomu. _

_"You know I can't. Tell Nemuri and the others I'm sorry—and stay safe, kiddo. Keep smiling." He gave Izuku a grin before standing up from their hiding place, leaving Izuku essentially buried in a safe-hole Maijima had dug just for him. "See ya in the next life." _

_"Goodbye." Izuku smiled as best he could. "Uncle Higari."_

Izuku shook his head sharply, barely dodging a blow from Bakugo. He hadn't had to think about Power Loader's death in a _long_ time. The man had run out to draw the Nomu away from Izuku's hiding spot. All he'd managed to find of the man after was few bloodstained pieces of clothing and some bone. That was it.

"I know you won't understand this, but there are bigger things for me to worry about than _your approval_." Izuku charged him, ducking under angry swings and dodging fierce blows.

The explosions were starting to overwhelm him, and the smell of smoke and nitroglycerin filled his nostrils, mixing with the scent of ash and blood. He found that it made it harder to remember _when_ he was. He kept catching ghost-like glimpses of fallen allies or Nomu out of the corner of his eyes.

Sometimes, when Bakugo reached for him with his hand, he overlapped with the image of Shigaraki. His red eyes glinted in malice and perverted glee, and Izuku wasn't sure if that was the hallucination or not.

_Don't kill him._ The thought ran through his mind. He _had_ to remember. This was _Bakugo_, not a Nomu… not Shigaraki… _Bakugo_. He pulled back, restraining himself, fighting against years of instinct screaming at him to do otherwise. He fought at only a small percentage of his power. He couldn't go all-out. Not against another human. Not against a fellow classmate. A _child._

The two finally jumped apart to catch their breath as Bakugo held up his hand (_a hand that looked pale and was horribly dry from overuse of the disintegration Quirk_), one finger hooked in the pin on his gauntlet. _Red eyes glined in bloodlust as they thirsted for his death. _"You know what my Quirk is, right? Well, nerd, what'dya think these are for?"

Izuku's eyes widened in startled realization as his vision focused on the present for that moment. "Your sweat…"

"STOP! THAT WILL KILL HIM!" All Might's voice rung out in worry, and Izuku heard the familiar voice of Shouta in the background. _Shou? What's he doing here?_

"Only if he doesn't dodge!" Bakugo grinned as he pulled the pin.

If Izuku hadn't spent a decade surviving against unbelievably fast and ludicrously strong Nomu, he probably would've _actually_ died.

But luckily for him, his reflexes were _insane_, and he managed to dodge _most_ of the blast. It caught his right leg, burning the skin. The smell of burned flesh reached his nostrils, mixing with the dust kicked up from Bakugo's explosions. The scent mixed with blood became unnervingly similar to the scent of a decayed corpse from Shigaraki's Quirk, and suddenly Izuku was completely gone—he didn't know _when_ he was.

He was half-sure his mind was playing tricks on him, but he heard some Nomu nearby. He glanced around himself quickly, and slipped into stealth mode, hiding in the best spot he could find. He'd wait out the Nomu—Shouta was smart enough to do the same. And if he was in trouble, Izuku would hear that, too. He'd go to help him if that were the case. He had a promise to Zashi to keep, after all. Shouta wouldn't die. He'd make _sure_ of it.

But he also promised Dabi that he'd look after himself. So he _needed_ to survive. _"You're doing great, Spitfire." Dabi's hand ruffled his hair. "You're doing just fine. Keep your knees bent a little more, yeah! Like that!"_

He violently flung the thought out of his mind—this was no time to think of people long dead.

They would survive. No matter what.

* * *

Shouta was _tired_. Not that that was necessarily anything new, per se, but he was apprehensive about his students' first Heroics Class. Never one to let his gut feelings lie, he decided to observe All Might's lesson. It was the man's first time teaching, after all, so he'd likely need a hand reigning in 19 rambunctious superpowered teenagers.

He entered the observation room with All Might and the remaining 15 students as Uraraka, Iida, Bakugo, and Midoriya readied themselves for their battle. Shouta, personally, was against the idea of Bakugo and Midoriya facing one another (or a battle exercise right off the bat, but he trusted that All Might had enough common sense to lecture the students on safety first).

Something about the way Bakugo had nearly lunged at the green-haired child during the assessment the day before had rubbed him the wrong way. Though the younger boy hadn't _seemed_ phased by the unprompted lunge, Shouta could see the way he tensed around the explosion that he'd almost fired off. He suspected this was a case of bullying or something similar, but with no evidence there was nothing Shouta could do about it except do his best to prevent any further altercations.

Warily, he kept his eye on the match before him. He just had a _feeling_.

"Turn on the audio." Shouta spoke up, startling the blond. He internally smirked—he loved having a stealth mode.

"Aizawa-san. I wasn't aware that you were observing the match today?"

"I wanted to make sure you had an extra set of eyes on these kids. They're a handful." He explained, and All Might nodded.

"Um… audio?"

Shouta sighed before leaning over and pressing the _obvious_ blue button with the headphone icon. _Honestly, Nezu should've made him get a teaching degree at least. Even I had to take some private classes with Nezu to get mine. _

They listened as Midoriya handed what he explained was a smoke screen to Uraraka. _Clever idea, but let's see how she uses it._

Unfortunately, it wasn't long until Midoriya met with Bakugo, and the results were as explosive as Shouta had feared.

"You never change, do you, Bakugo?" Midoriya smirked confidently, causing the blond kid to bristle in anger.

"Shut the _hell_ up Deku! Since when do you even use my last name?!"

"_That's_ what's got you pissed? Bakugo Katsuki. We haven't been friends for a long time. I finally admit that now." Shouta sighed. _Obviously there's a lot of context I'm missing, here._

"Like I'd ever be friends with a Quirkless reject like you!" Shouta's attention immediately became entirely focused on the fight. He had suspected that Bakugo's record wasn't as clean as it initially appeared, but Quirk (or Quirkless as the case was here) discrimination was very serious—especially for a prospective hero.

Shouta also found himself appreciating the smooth form that Midoriya had, and his obvious expertise with the sai. He wielded them with experience beyond his years, and Shouta wondered where he'd learned to fight.

Compared to Midoriya, Bakugo looked like a raging animal with no finesse—powerful, with strong instincts, but a _lot_ of wasted energy and movement. Midoriya's movement wasted none, and actually reminded Shouta quite a bit of his own fighting style—minus the Capture Weapon.

He tensed when Bakugo blew a hole in the floor, freeing himself from his classmate's grasp.

"So you've got some moves. Big deal!" Bakugo snarled. "You're still _nothing!_ You'll never be a hero!"

Shouta's eyes narrowed. This was a personal statement. He knew right there that both of these students would need to talk to Hound Dog (Bakugo for his anger and pride, and Midoriya for what was sure to be low self-esteem or trauma.)

"Bakugo." Midoriya flinched as another explosion went off, and Shouta took a deep breath. He didn't like the feeling he was getting.

And for a moment, Midoriya froze. _No…_ Shouta's eyes narrowed. _That's not right. This is something else…_ But between the shitty angle of the camera and the dust settling, Shouta couldn't name what it was before the kid snapped himself out of it.

"I know you won't understand this, but there are bigger things for me to worry about than _your approval_."

_Something's not right._ The dust settled and he could see a lot more clearly. Midoriya's eyes… they were somewhat glassy and he didn't look completely there. It was as if he didn't completely recognize where he was beyond the fight. That worried Shouta. A lot.

And then something changed.

It was subtle, and the shift was one that Shouta only _barely_ noticed, but Midoriya went from a _sparring_ fighting style to a _fighting for your life_ style. He caught Midoriya altering several moves at the last minute that would've been lethal (for Bakugo) if he hadn't changed course. That was when he'd decided that enough was enough. He moved to stop the match before someone got killed, when Bakugo spoke up.

"You know what my Quirk is, right? Well, nerd, what'dya think these are for?"

"Your sweat…" Midoriya's eyes went wide in horror, as did Shouta's.

"STOP! THAT WILL KILL HIM!" All Might shouted over the intercom.

"Bakugo, if you pull that pin—" Shouta started, but Bakugo didn't hear him.

"Only if he doesn't dodge!" Shouta felt anger well up alongside his fear as the pin was pulled and a _massive_ explosion took out their visual feed.

"Young Bakugo?! Is everyone okay?!" All Might asked, but Shouta hit a button on the panel instead.

"Stop the exercise! Anyone continuing to fight will be _expelled_." Shouta promised as All Might sent him an affronted look.

"I'm going to go check on Midoriya and Bakugo. Call Recovery Girl, there's sure to be injuries." All Might nodded meekly and went to do as told. "Stay. Put." Shouta glared at the remaining students, who nodded and planted their feet where they stood. They looked half-terrified and if that was of Shouta, then _good,_ he'd done something right.

His heart pounded in worry. Bakugo was leaning casually against a wall, acting like nothing was wrong. "You are going to wait for me in Nezu's office. We will have a nice _long_ discussion on why that was _not_ okay. Argue or attempt to go elsewhere, and you'll find yourself expelled." Shouta glared, and Bakugo straightened in shock and nodded.

_I get the feeling this kid's never been reprimanded before. Newsflash, brat, U.A. doesn't cater to your inflated ego._

Iida and Uraraka came down the stairs, worry evident on their faces. "Aizawa-sensei?" Uraraka asked.

"Go join your classmates while I locate Midoriya." He ordered, and Iida herded the girl away.

Shouta was good at finding people—he _had_ to be to find the crooks and rapists lurking in back alleyways at two in the morning. But he _couldn't_ for the life of him, find Midoriya. And that scared him. It wasn't until he finally caught sight of a few drops of blood on the floor (likely from cutting himself on rubble) that his eyes focused on a deathly still figure hiding in the rubble.

Wide green eyes stared around his environment, as if tracking unseen enemies. He flinched—twitched, more like—at unheard sounds, and his breathing was almost nonexistent.

Shouta realized that his student was stuck in some kind of flashback. "Midoriya." No reaction.

"Midoriya Izuku." He tried again, noticing that his student twitched a little at the sound of his given name.

"Shouta?" Shouta blinked. Why was the kid using his _given_ name? He decided not to question it right now. "Yeah, kid. It's me." He carefully made his way over to him. "Can you tell me where you are right now?"

"Abandoned building. I can hear them nearby… Making a break for it would be too dangerous, though. Too many. Are you hurt?" Midoriya's voice was scarcely a whisper, and Shouta couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken to see the hardened and _fearful_ look on his face. Just what had happened to this kid? He looked like a soldier in a warzone.

"I'm okay. Listen to me. You're at U.A. You're safe, it's okay. Nobody is going to hurt you." He kept his voice calm and soft, and the kid blinked a few times in confusion. "There's no one here but us."

"But… I can hear them?"

"Hear who?"

"The Nomu." There was a pause. _Was that the name of some kind of group?_ "Shouta? Are they okay? Zashi… And Nemuri… And Maijima?" _Why is this kid calling us by our given names?_ _And Power Loader, too?_

"Yeah. Everyone's okay, Izuku." He rolled with it, calling him by his given name. The kid relaxed substantially, so Shouta assumed it was the right call. "Recovery Girl is waiting for you."

"Recovery… Girl? But she…" His brows furrowed together before his eyes cleared a bit.

Shouta carefully placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, and he found Midoriya's hand grasping his arm like a lifeline. "When am I?" He asked desperately. The question made Shouta falter for a moment. Not _where_ am I, but _when_.

"It's Tuesday. Year 2365. You just started your first year of U.A. Hero Course." He answered quietly, and the boy froze for a moment before he melted into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" Shouta ignored the tears that were soaking into his capture weapon as he held his student. He reached up to his radio. "All Might, I've found him. He's hurt, but nothing life-threatening. I'm taking him to Recovery Girl myself."

He then turned his attention back to the obviously traumatized child. "It's all right, Midoriya. You have nothing to apologize for."

"I… I must've confused you so much… and I… I'm so sorry…" Shouta didn't know why, but he got the distinct impression that the kid was apologizing for something more than his breakdown. Regardless, he wasn't about to let his classmates see him like this, so he took an alternate route to Recovery Girl's office.

"Oh dear." She said the moment she saw Shouta with an injured student passed out in his arms. The kid had a death grip on him even in his sleep.

"Training accident ended up triggering some sort of flashback." Shouta explained. "He seemed to recognize me, though, and asked after Mic, Midnight, and Power Loader."

"Strange…" Her brows furrowed before she turned to tend to his injuries. Shouta was barely able to tear the kid from his arms, and when he did, the boy whimpered lightly.

"He seems very attached to you." Chiyo grinned, giggling under her breath.

"I have to inform the other teachers about this development." He sighed. "Call me when he wakes up. If he's still in the flashback, I should be able to bring him out of it."

"Right, Dearie. Thank you for the heads up."

With that, Shouta closed the door behind him. _Ugh, today sucks already_. He shook his head. He still had to deal with Bakugo. But first, he needed to inform the other teachers of the now _obvious_ PTSD that Midoriya had. And had neglected to inform them of. He'd chew the kid out for that later.

He sent off a quick text to his coworkers. Luckily, it was most everyone's free period, so Cementoss, Snipe, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, Midnight and Thirteen were all in the Staff Room. He'd have to inform Power Loader of the situation later.

"Shouta? What's wrong, I thought you were observing your class?" Hizashi's eyes flashed in concern when he noted the dust and blood on his costume.

"There was an incident. Bakugo disobeyed a direct order and used an attack of lethal force on Midoriya." The room stiffened. "He's fine. Somehow the kid managed to dodge it, but his leg was burned pretty badly. He's with Chiyo, now. But the attack triggered a flashback. I was only barely able to pull him out of it."

"A flashback?" Cementoss asked in concern.

"He was talking about hearing 'Nomu' nearby, whatever that is, and his eyes were tracking invisible enemies. Kid was so quiet I almost didn't find him. But he seemed to recognize me." His brows knitted together in concern.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Midnight asked.

"That's the thing. He called me 'Shouta', and only reacted when I called him by his given name."

"That's… strange." Thirteen conceded.

"He also asked about 'Zashi', 'Nemuri', and 'Maijima'." Shouta looked at Mic and Midnight, who startled at their own names. "He came back to himself before he passed out, but if anything happens again and I'm not around, I think you two could manage to pull him out of a flashback… Call it a hunch."

"That's actually somewhat unnerving, having a student call me by my given name." Midnight scratched her head.

"Do you two know him outside of school?" Snipe asked.

"No, never met the kid before he attended here." Mic shook his head, and Nemuri nodded in agreement.

"I think we should all keep a closer eye on him. Any idea what specifically triggered it?" Cementoss asked.

"Ah… maybe I can answer that question." All Might said, coming into the room. Shouta glanced at the clock—it was already the end of the day. "Before the start of the battle Midoriya-shounen came up to me and confessed that he had bad reactions to explosions. I assumed they just made him uncomfortable, and he said that he was going to talk to Hound Dog at the end of the week about it. He wanted to switch partners, but…"

"But you made him face Bakugo anyways." Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How irresponsible." Thirteen tutted. "Didn't you read the handbook?"

"Handbook?" All Might questioned, causing the entire room to groan.

"Here." Snipe chucked something at his head (and nearly hit him right on the nose with his impeccable aim). "Every teacher is required to have that _memorized_ before even setting foot in a classroom." He crossed his arms.

"Page twenty-seven talks about what to do when a student who's suspected of having a traumatic experience in the past confesses a possible trigger." Ectoplasm stated dryly, sending All Might a mild glare of his own. "In short, you excuse that student from the situation that could re-traumatize them, and inform their homeroom teacher privately before informing the rest of the staff."

"In this case, you would've given him a different opponent and kept a closer eye on him while he observed Bakugo's fight." Shouta stepped in. "Immediately after class, you would've informed _me_ of the situation, before I informed the rest of the staff to prevent re-traumatizing him."

"Oh."

"Yeah. _Oh_." Shouta sighed. "You can apologize to Midoriya _after_ Recovery Girl and Hound Dog have cleared him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a student to discipline." He paused in the doorway. "Zashi, I think you or Nemuri should go see if the kid's okay. He'll probably respond better to you two than anyone else right now." He sent them meaningful looks and the two smiled.

"I'll go. The Little Listener's growing on me." Hizashi grinned, heading out the door, closing it behind him with a soft click.

"I'll inform Power Loader." Ectoplasm sighed.

"Thank you."

* * *

Shouta sighed as he watched Bakugo leave the office. His punishment was light, in Shouta's opinion, but there wasn't much they could do for a first-offense. So he'd be on restriction for two weeks. Allowed to observe and participate in _team building_ activities while attending counseling with Hound Dog every day.

He looked up when the door opened. Nezu had wanted to speak with Midoriya regarding the incident, and had Hizashi and Nemuri accompany him up to the office. He was bandaged, and had a light limp, but looked fine otherwise. He looked a little tired, but that was probably from Recovery Girl's Quirk.

"You feeling better?" Shouta asked, and the kid nodded. He didn't miss the way he relaxed when he saw Shouta sitting there. The boy was unusually attached to him, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

"Welcome, Midoriya. Please have a seat." Nezu motioned, and Shouta stood to leave.

"A-actually, Sh– Aizawa-sensei… You three can stay if you want?" Midoriya spoke up, and Shouta sat back down. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious. He saw the expression mirrored on the other two heroes' faces.

"I understand that you had quite the experience today. I wanted to apologize for you getting hurt." Nezu said.

"Oh, that's not your fault. Bakugo's always been that way." He answered off handedly. "I'd have been more careful if I'd have known about the gauntlets, but that's my fault for being ill-informed."

Shouta stared. This kid was far too mature.

"Either way," Nezu continued, handing a cup of tea to the boy, who took it gratefully. "I'd like to know what exactly triggered your flashback earlier. To prevent any future setbacks, and to keep you on the right track, you need to inform us of any major trauma in your past."

"W-wait… you mean I'm not getting kicked out of the hero course?" He blinked in shock.

Shouta startled. "Of course you aren't." He stated. "Kid, nine out of ten pros have PTSD or something similar. It comes with the job. To disqualify a hero hopeful for something you'll likely get anyways is illogical. But we _can_ help you with it before you head out there."

He relaxed substantially, and Shouta wondered if that had been weighing on him this entire time. Was that why he hadn't informed them?

"I'm sorry. I just…"

"It's okay, Little Listener. We're here to help you." Hizashi spoke up, and Midoriya sent him a small gentle smile. There was a tinge of sorrow there, though, and he noticed that the kid's hand went to touch something under his shirt, like he wore a necklace of some kind.

Shouta squinted a little. Yep. There was a glint of rusted silver. A very _old_ necklace, it would seem.

"I… Part of it is collapsing buildings. And the smell of decay… and unfortunately, burning flesh mixed with nitroglycerin and whatever else was in that building happened to smell similar enough to, um… well… yeah."

_Decay?!_ Shouta stiffened, along with the other heroes. What the hell kind of situation had this kid been through? As far as he knew, the boy's mother was alive and well, and his father worked overseas… There'd been nothing in his records indicating anything even remotely traumatic, either.

Though it was possible that something had happened and the police had just not bothered to document it due to his Quirkless status. As much as Shouta hated it, some people just didn't care about someone who didn't have a Quirk.

"Mostly, the biggest thing is silence." He spoke quietly, and Shouta noticed it now. He shifted in his seat. He did that in class, too. The kid was always making some kind of small, quiet noise. "The silence that follows explosions is the worst. They tend to send me into…"

"Flashbacks." Shouta finished for him.

"Yeah. So you saw that?" He winced.

"Yes. Nobody else did, though. But you called me by my given name." Midoriya flinched lightly.

"I-I'm sorry, sir. I meant no offense."

"I'm not offended, just curious."

The look on the kid's face told him that the boy was embarrassed, and ashamed. But his eyes told Shouta a different story. Grief, regret, anger, loss. The emotions were overwhelming and Shouta looked away, feeling like he was violating some part of the kid just from _seeing_ that.

"Can you explain what kind of experience brought on this trauma?" Nezu asked gently.

"I…" The kid looked out the window behind Nezu for a moment, and Shouta was briefly afraid he'd fallen into another flashback. "I lost some people very dear to me. It was a villain attack… there was this terrible silence afterwards…" He gently touched the necklace. "I'll never forget that scream. I had to knock one of them out because he wanted to go back for the other, but…" The kid's hand clenched, and Shouta knew what had happened. This boy had been forced to choose between two lives that were precious to him. Likely, if the kid had stayed to help the other, all three would be dead. This kid was _way_ too young to have an experience like that. To have to make that kind of choice…

Nemuri looked ready to cry, and Hizashi looked heartbroken. Even Nezu looked mildly disturbed, though he quickly masked it before the kid could notice.

At the very least, this kid already had what it took to be a pro, of that Shouta was now certain. Not many people could even make that kind of choice. Nezu took a moment to digest this information.

"Thank you for telling us, Midoriya. I'd like for you to meet with Hound Dog every day." The kid nodded.

"I was going to go to him at the end of the week."

"Good, you'll start those meetings tomorrow during your free period, then." Nezu smiled. "Now, on to the topic originally scheduled for today—the Entrance Exams." He leaned forward in glee, and Midoriya relaxed almost completely.

If Shouta hadn't seen how tense he was a minute ago, he wouldn't have suspected anything. It was like he flipped a switch. The kid was _way_ too good at hiding trauma. Looked like the staff needed to up their game. "What, exactly, did you do?"

"Well, I figured the robots were all connected to some wireless system." Midoriya started, eyes shining as a smirk danced on his lips. His meek posture from earlier dropped away along with his nerves, and the kid that sat before them looked confident and happy. It was like night and day. Shouta found himself thinking that the boy was far too used to dealing with flashbacks and trauma if he could bounce back _this_ quickly.

"The test is dangerous, and even if each one was individually programmed, you still needed some emergency shut-off sequence just in case. Of course, that applies to the Zero Pointer, too. Perhaps _especially_ the Zero Pointer. Not every teacher here has the firepower to take that thing down should it rampage out of control, and if _all_ of them do so, then there may not be enough time to prevent casualties. So a remote shut-off is a must. I simply found the code in the smaller robot, and hacked it to send out the force shut-down signal." He sat back with a grin.

"Amazing." Nezu's grin matched Midoriya's. "Not only did you manage to reverse hack it, but you did so in an unbelievable amount of time." He leaned forward again. "Midoriya Izuku, would you like to become my private student?"

Shouta shared a horrified look with his friends. _Oh shit._ If this kid accepted the offer…

"Principal Nezu…" Izuku leaned forward with a fearsome smirk of his own. "I would _love_ to."

The two cackled together, and Shouta felt a strong chill run down his spine. _We're doomed._

* * *

It wasn't until they were nearly out the doors of U.A., that Shouta remembered the upcoming field trip. "Midoriya." He stopped the kid, who turned and looked at him with a questioning gaze. "There's a field trip tomorrow. I think, all things considered, you should stay here."

Something flashed in his eyes. Desperation, pain, fear, panic. "Please, sir. I'm okay, now. So long as I'm not around unexpected explosions, I'll be fine." He promised, looking at him with those dark green eyes. They were _begging_ him. He opened his mouth to argue, when Midoriya spoke up again. "I _promise_ I'll tell you if I feel off or bothered in _any_ way, okay?" He felt his mouth set in a thin line. _What a Problem Child_. He finally sighed.

"Fine. But your mother has to sign this." He handed over a paper. The kid stiffened almost unnoticeably. Shouta's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. Something wasn't right here. Abuse? It wasn't uncommon for a Quirkless kid, after all. Maybe he'd do home checks soon.

"Okay. Thank you, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya grinned, and Shouta was _almost_ convinced. Almost.

* * *

"Keicchan~" Izuku called out when he got back into the clearing of trash he called home. Keigo looked up from the book he'd been reading. He'd found it in the mound of trash earlier while poking through the pile curiously.

_Seriously, who throws away a perfectly good book?!_

"Zukkun?" He didn't know why Izuku came up with these nicknames, but it seemed to make the fifteen year old happy, so who was he to complain? Besides, it wasn't like he'd ever really had anyone he was close enough with to have a nickname for before. And if Keigo was being honest, he really enjoyed it. Not that he'd admit that aloud.

"I need you to be my mother." Keigo spit out the sip of lemonade he'd taken.

"I'm sorry, _what?!_"

"This permission slip!" Izuku held up a piece of paper, and the hero felt his pulse even out. "I need my mother's signature, but that's out of the question. I suck at forging signatures, and he's never seen her handwriting before… so… Please?"

Keigo blinked as his brain restarted. "Fine." He sighed and held out his hand. "Give it here."

"YES!"

"A field trip?"

"Mmmhm~!" Izuku nodded his head enthusiastically.

"And why exactly do you need this slip signed when this is a trip on campus?"

"Because Bakugo tried to kill me and sent me into a flashback during our Heroics Class."

Keigo was going to go grey. Young. "I think I need more explanation than _that_, Zu."

"Er… well, remember how we were talking about triggers the other day and stuff?" Izuku waited for Keigo to nod. "Well, one of those triggers happens to be explosions. Or rather, collapsing buildings and then the smell of explosions. _Especially_ when mixed with burning flesh…" He sheepishly pulled up his pant leg to show a new scar.

"Burning… flesh?" He echoed. "I don't know if I _want_ to know right now. Maybe I should come with you to school." Keigo groaned. "I thought you'd be safe at U.A…. At least when you're on patrol, you've got Aizawa with you… Hold on, how did it get to that point? Who's your Heroics teacher?"

"All Might."

"WHAT?!" Keigo decided he was going to stop drinking his lemonade before he choked to death.

"Yep~" Izuku popped the 'p' cheerfully, as if he didn't just drop three bombshells in a row on him.

"Zukkun, you're going to be the death of me one of these days." Keigo sighed as he found a pen. "Now, what's your mo…" He trailed off when he caught sight of the serious expression on Izuku's face.

"Please don't joke about that. I've seen enough friends die because of me. I don't want to imagine your death, too."

Not for the first time, Keigo wondered just what had happened to Midoriya Izuku. He was such an enigma. Fifteen and Quirkless, and yet he was Japan's most elusive and wanted Vigilante. To the point where he could propose a partnership with the local police force and heroes, and get it accepted on _his_ terms. Keigo was sure Izuku wasn't aware of just how much power he had as Viridian.

Not only that, but he had a mysterious and _dark_ past that reeked of blood and death. Keigo hoped that whatever it was wouldn't come back to bite him in the butt, because Keigo had no plans to leave his newfound brother to fend for himself. He just hoped that Izuku would tell him about it before it became a necessary thing.

"Sorry." He apologized awkwardly. "I need your mother's name to forge her signature."

"Oh, right. Midoriya Inko."

That was another thing. Keigo realized a while back that Izuku's parents were still alive. He did a little digging around and found that his mother was still living in Musutafu.

"I've been meaning to ask, but why do you live alone?" Keigo handed back the permission slip.

"You mean why don't I live with my mother and father?"

"Yeah."

"My father _hates_ the Quirkless." He explained carefully as he sat down. "He twisted my mother's views on the Quirkless until she stopped caring about me. In all honesty, she hasn't looked at me since I was eight. She doesn't care if I'm alive or dead, and whenever my _father_ comes home, it's not pretty."

Keigo shuddered at the image his friend was painting for him.

"So I figured I was safer on my own. I packed up my stuff and came here—where nobody would bother me. You know, until you showed up." Izuku playfully shoved Keigo, and just like that the lighter atmosphere was back.

"Well, I've got the wings for it, so I guess I'll be your mother hen for now." He smirked back.

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Izuku pouted.

"You're fifteen. You're a kid."

"Oh yeah…"

"How do you _forget_ your age?"

"A backlash of trauma." Izuku carefully answered.

"That makes no sense."

"It wasn't supposed to."

"Get some rest, Zukkun. You've got a long day tomorrow."

"You can say _that_ again."


	10. Chapter 10: USJ

**_A/N: Hello everyone! How're you surviving today?! :D Here's another update! We've finally hit USJ! WOOOO! *Listening to Zelda OST as I type this* XD At any rate, it's shorter than the last chapter, but I'm not overly experienced with fight scenes. So I apologize if it's confusing. _**

**_I've been so happy with the fanart you guys have been sending me! OMT It's amazing and makes me squeeeeee~~ (Seriously, just ask my Group Chat members on Telegram, they can attest to that). If you've got some, and you'd like me to link/post it in a relevant chapter, e-mail me at aizawa ^_^ _**

**_I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my new Eraserhead goggles in the mail~ I'm so excited! Yo! Any Bnha cosplayers in Riverside County, CA? Cuz I need cosplayer friends! TAT If you're there, we need to meet up after quarantine is done, yeah?_**

**_Shoutout! Who here knows/likes that French anime, Code Lyoko?! That shit was my CHILDHOOD, and I'm going to eventually write a crossover of BnHA with that. Check it out, guys! It's pretty awesome. Oh, and if you want to cry, I recommend the anime Erin. Watched it years ago, and I remember sobbing like a baby inconsolably for an hour. _**

**_I hope everyone's staying safe with Corona out there—I heard that there's about 11 cases in the town I live, and 18 cases in the town I work (yeah, still working both jobs. oof). So wish me luck. (Even if I get sick, I'll do my best to update). _**

**_Now, I'm off to eat at 8Pm for the first time today. Whooo~~~ *Didn't get up till noon anyhow*_**

* * *

Izuku woke up the morning of the USJ field trip a jittery mess. Yesterday had been a disaster, and now the teachers were sure to watch him with an even sharper eye. He understood that they were concerned, and that this wasn't actually a setback in his hero career, but it was bound to be nothing short of annoying. Especially with what was going to happen today.

Yamada-sensei had caught him after he'd left Aizawa-sensei the other day. He'd been curious as to why Izuku had used his first name and he'd mentally scrambled for a believable excuse.

"You don't have to answer it now, if you don't want to, I'm just curious." He'd said, waving off his paranoia. "If it makes you more comfortable, Little Listener, you can call me Hizashi outside of class." He'd grinned as he said it, and Izuku wasn't sure if he was grateful or heartbroken. Grateful, because this made it infinitely easier on him if he slipped up, and he was getting closer to one of the only older brother figures he'd ever known… but heartbroken because it wasn't _his_ Zashi. This Hizashi wasn't _his_ Zashi, and he never _could_ be. And that thought made him almost break down right there. He was also a little angry, because 'Little Listener' was _Zashi's_ nickname for him. Nobody else could call him that. Nobody—not even his younger self.

Thank goodness he'd spent a decade with Shouta learning how to handle his emotions.

Last night, he'd gone out on patrol as Viridian for the first since school began. He hadn't wanted to obtain any questionable injuries, and it felt _good_ to be back out there, patrolling the streets in the dead of night. He was glad that Recovery Girl hadn't taken off his shirt, or she would've seen all his scars. And Izuku honestly didn't know how he'd go about explaining _that_ away. Or the fact that he had a nasty cut on his side with home done stitches (which was now healed due to her Quirk).

Patrol was amazing, though, and taking out his added frustrations on any villains he came across also helped a _ton_. He'd even run into Eraserhead during his patrol. The man had been overly relieved to see him.

"You've been gone for nearly a week." He'd accused. "And you're supposed to patrol _with _me."

"Yeah, I've been out of town for a little bit. What, couldn't handle things without me?" He teased. "How are the kiddies?"

"A handful."

"Any favorites?"

"I don't _play_ favorites." He grunted.

"So there _is_ one that's caught your eye." Viridian's eyes gleamed.

"I _do_ have a Problem Child this year." He admitted, and Izuku's heart clenched.

_"You'll know he trusts you when he calls you 'Problem Child'."_

_But he didn't call me Problem Child… not to my face. I'm getting closer, but… I may not even have to tell him, if all goes well tomorrow_.

"You seem distracted." Aizawa noted.

"I'm worried about you." Viridian started slowly. "I've come across some… concerning intel. I believe someone's planning an attack on U.A." He couldn't prevent the USJ Incident—it was his best chance for killing Shigaraki—but he might be able to help keep Shouta from getting too injured. He noted how the man stiffened at the information. "Please. Shouta, be _careful_. Wear extra equipment, bring extra weapons, _something_. Like I said before, I don't want you to die. I enjoy your company."

"I'll be careful." He promised, and Izuku could tell… this wasn't the kind of 'I promise' that was made half-heartedly. It made him relax a little bit.

They'd parted ways not too long after that, and Izuku had gone straight to bed.

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time to dwell on yesterday. He'd woken up a few hours earlier than expected due to the nightmares—memories—that had haunted his dreams last night. He felt exhausted.

"Coffee should do me some good." He smiled softly as he scribbled down a note for Keigo, should he decide to stop by, and left his humble abode. He'd taken to putting a Fatgum hoodie on over his school uniform so nobody stopped or targeted him on the streets. U.A. students were surprisingly popular, and Izuku didn't like dealing with the awed stares and 'do your best' well wishes from people that would only sneer if they knew he was Quirkless.

He heard a bit of a commotion down the street, and vigilante instinct kicked in. He dashed into a dimly lit alley and ducked behind a dumpster as he quickly donned his Viridian outfit—something he carried with him at all times in a hidden compartment of his backpack.

He wasted no time in running towards the yell he'd heard. It led him to a convenience store. A villain held a cashier at gunpoint, and Viridian internally cursed. He _hated_ hostage situations.

_Let's see. One armed man, Quirk unknown. One hostage—technically the entire store could be… whatever. Okay, think. What's the best way to go about this?_

Viridian noticed a young boy—likely around ten—hiding in one of the isles. He was holding a can of beans with a determined gleam in his eye. Viridian silently made his way over to the kid.

"Don't do it, kid." He warned quietly, making the boy startle. His eyes were wide as he took in the vigilante. "I don't want you to get hurt—guns are dangerous." He winked at the boy. "But you already knew that, huh. I saw what you were aiming to do—thank you. But I'll take care of it, yeah? Just stay safe." He waited for the boy to nod before he grabbed a bag of flour and casually walked up to the register. "Excuse me, I'd like to purchase this."

The villain, cashier, and another teenaged customer stared at him incredulously.

"You think you're real funny, kid?!" The robber snarled. "Just 'cause you've got on some fancy Halloween costume?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Viridian tilted his head. He mentally cursed as he realized he forgot to activate his voice changer. He still sounded like a kid.

Oh well, this could work in his favor.

"P-please, just take the money." The cashier removed the entire drawer from the register and dumped it into the bag of the robber.

"No. I want the safe, too."

"I-I can't! It's on a time-lock! Even if I knew the code, it wouldn't open at this hour!" He pleaded.

"You're _really_ starting to piss me o—"

"Sir, are you in line?" Viridian continued on, drawing attention back to himself again. "I mean, some of us have other places to be, you know. Not everyone has the luxury of standing around and doing nothing." He said with a smirk as the robber finally got fed up enough with Izuku to train the gun on him.

"What'd you say, punk?!"

_Perfect._

Before anyone could say anything, Viridian punched the open bag of flour, creating an impromptu smokescreen as he grappled the gun away from the robber, just as a shot fired out.

He winced when he felt it hit his arm, but better him than a civilian. Not twenty seconds later, the guy was out cold.

"Well, that's probably not the best way to start out the morning." Viridian muttered to himself, turning the voice changer back on. He turned to the cashier and civilian. "You guys okay?"

They did a doubletake at the voice, before the civilian's eyes widened.

"You're Viridian! That new hero everyone's talking about online!" He grinned. "C-can I have your autograph?!"

"M-my wha?"

"Oh yeah! I've heard people talking about you! Thank you so much for saving us!" The cashier grinned. This was weird. People were treating him like a hero. Even in his original timeline, people were never _this_ happy to see him.

"Uh… sure?" He took the notebook the civilian had and scribbled down his signature in a daze.

"Thank you!" He bowed. "I'll treasure it forever!" Viridian had a sense of déjà vu.

"Freeze! Police!" Someone shouted as the cops stormed the building.

"Masa~!" He grinned, turning to face one of his favorite people.

"Viridian, why are you always at the scene of trouble?"

"I just happened to need a couple of things. Is grocery shopping illegal, now?"

"Somehow, I doubt you shop in your vigilante uniform." He stared dryly.

"Um… sir?" A kid, no older than ten, stepped out from one of the isles. He was looking at Viridian.

"You okay, kid?"

"Y-yeah…" He looked down for a moment. "I was wondering… Um… c-can…"

"Go on, it's okay." He had a feeling he knew what this kid was going to ask. He eyed Eraserhead leaning against a wall—Masa must've called him in.

"I've admired you for a while." The kid started, looking at his shoes. "E-ever since you started popping up online, and… and… I wanna be a hero. Like you!" The words made Izuku's heart nearly stop in his chest. Someone called him a _hero_. He swore he saw Masa and Eraser smirking. "But… nobody thinks I can."

Viridian waited patiently for the kid to continue as the other cops took statements and secured the robber. He was having minor flashbacks to the rooftop with All Might.

"Can a Quirkless nobody like me become a hero like you?!"

Viridian couldn't stop the intake of breath as the room stilled. This kid was just like him. The kid looked down again, discouraged. Izuku had _never_ met another Quirkless child.

"I-I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have—"

"What's your name, kid?" Viridian cut him off. He'd be damned if he was going to be the same as All Might. He was not going to crush this kid's dreams. He was _not_ going to create another him.

"Y-Yasu."

"Yasu-kun." He started, and the boy looked up at him as he crouched before him. "Being a hero is not easy. It's dangerous, especially without a Quirk." The kid's eyes started to fill with tears. "_But_!" He cut off what he was sure were negative thoughts. "With enough hard work and dedication… then yes. You _can_ become a hero." He grinned and the kid's eyes widened in awe.

"Y-You really mean it?!"

"Of course. Quirkless is _not_ worthless. I'm not a hypocrite, you know." He winked at the kid. "I'm Quirkless, too."

Later on, he'd realize that the civilian he'd saved earlier had recorded the entire thing on his phone. The video of the mysterious vigilante/hero Viridian admitting he was Quirkless would take the internet by storm.

Several thousand people around the world would become inspired by Viridian, and set out to make a better life for themselves.

He missed the awed and mildly terrified glances from the cashier and the older civilian. The kid looked at him like he just hung the sun in the sky. "If I can do it, so can you, Yasu." He ruffled the kid's hair, and was met with a shining smile. "Never give up on your dreams. And always strive to help others."

"HAI!"

He watched the kid as he left, herded off to be checked over by the medics—something Viridian was keeping an eye on. Time knew how many times _he_ was a victim of malpractice because of his Quirkless status. After Yasu had left, Eraserhead glared at Viridian. "You're hurt. Again."

"Ha?" Viridian looked down at his arm, which had been shot. "Oh yeah." Naomasa facepalmed.

"You're incorrigible. How do you _forget_ that you got _shot_?"

"No running off this time!" Eraserhead scowled, and Viridian put his hands up in surrender.

"Fine! Fine. I'll let you take me to a hospital or whatever. But the mask stays _on_. And so does the shirt."

"If that's what it takes to get you _proper_ medical treatment, then so be it." Naomasa sighed.

"Okay, then let's go." Viridian sighed. _I'd better not be late to school for this._

Eraserhead stayed with them on the way to said hospital, and while the staff wasn't happy about him keeping his shirt and mask on, they listened to Naomasa when he insisted it was okay.

Viridian couldn't help but look around in interest.

"You act like you've never been in a hospital before." Eraserhead raised an eyebrow.

"I haven't really been in one since I was pronounced Quirkless at four." He admitted, and Naomasa discreetly popped some headache medication.

"Right, so you need an entirely new medical file. Awesome."

"Not _my_ fault. I've _tried_ going to the hospital before, but they turned me away because I was Quirkless." He mentioned offhandedly.

"They… _what_?" Masa stared at him in shock, as did Eraserhead.

"What? It's normal for someone like me." He blinked. Did they not know that? "Am… am I the first Quirkless person you've met or something?"

"You're the first Quirkless friend we've had." Naomasa explained. "And that is _not_ okay." He gritted out.

"It was _years_ ago—no worries." He waved it away. Luckily, Eraser seemed to pick up on his quiet cue.

"Out of curiosity…" Eraser started. "Why are you so protective of your identity?"

"I mean, I actually plan to _do_ stuff with my civilian persona." Viridian admitted.

"Other than become a hero?"

"If you knew my identity, that'd make everything infinitely more complicated, and I honestly have no intentions of giving you_ that_ kind of migraine. Plus, you wouldn't let me do half the shit I do. I get away with a _lot_ more with my two identities separate."

"That just makes us even more curious." Naomasa sighed.

"Look, I promise I'll tell you someday, but for now…"

"Do we know your civilian persona?" Eraserhead asked.

"Hmmm…. To answer or be vague?"

"In other words, yes we do." Naomasa pinched the bridge of his nose, and Eraser looked like he wanted to bash his head against a wall. Again.

"Someone we know, who's likely around his mid-thirties…"

"I'm standing right here." Viridian crossed his arms, only for the nurse that was treating him to slap said arm. "_Ow!_" He glared at her.

"Don't move." She glared.

"Stop laughing, Eraser." He glared at the pro.

"I'm not laughing." He deadpanned.

"You're laughing on the inside."

"You really are." Naomasa agreed.

Internally, he smirked. Maybe… "All right… I'll give you two a hint." He grinned, and their attention was instantly on _him_. "Eraser… you see my civilian persona quite often, actually. At _least_ once a week." He chuckled, knowing that there were several cafés that the man frequented on a weekly basis. He'd likely jump to that conclusion.

Eraserhead's eyes widened at this new piece of information, and Viridian laughed. "Good luck figuring it out, though."

"Give me a bit of time, and I'll find you." Eraser promised.

"Care to bet on it?" Viridian grinned. "I'll do _all_ your paperwork for the _year_ if you can figure out my civilian persona on your own—before I reveal it to you. Same for you, Masa."

"And if we can't?" Eraser frowned.

"Then you have to let me continue doing _exactly_ what I've been doing—vigilante work and all—regardless of who I am." He smirked.

"That confident, huh?" Naomasa chuckled.

"I'm more worried about the fact that you think we'll stop you from doing this stuff if we knew who you were under that mask." Eraser frowned.

"A year of no paperwork~" Viridian sang. "I'll even buy all your coffee for the year, too."

"Fine." Eraserhead caved.

"Deal." Naomasa nodded along, as well. Viridian laughed.

"Why do I feel like we're going to regret this?" Naomasa asked.

Thirty minutes later showed Viridian walking out of that hospital with the detective and hero by his side. "I'M FREE!" He cried out happily.

"You're such a kid." Masa shook his head fondly.

"I'll always be a kid at heart." Viridian grinned back.

"I need to get to school before I'm late." Eraserhead realized, and Viridian's stomach did backflips. He couldn't be late, either. Especially with this new deal on the table.

"I should get going, too." He smirked. "See ya~"

With that, he dashed off. Once he was in a secure location, he switched into his school uniform again, tossing his hoodie back on. He winced as his arm throbbed. _Shiiiiiit. If Aizawa sees that, how the hell am I going to explain it away?!_ He blinked._ What if I let Shigaraki partially disintegrate it?_ He blinked. _It could work… I mean, with disintegration on the table, then who would notice a little gunshot wound? _

_Oh, but then if Eraser and Masa wanna see how the gunshot would is healing, and I show them a disintegration scar that they know Izuku got…_

Izuku snapped out of his thought as he abruptly looked up and realized that he was at the gates to U.A. He blinked. "I must've been really out of it." He muttered to himself. The jitters were starting to come back, as he became abruptly aware of just how vital today was to the survival of the _world_.

Scars wouldn't matter. He just had to kill Shigaraki—_that_ was all he needed to do. Bets be damned. As long as Shigaraki was dead, the world would continue to survive.

The crowd of reporters _definitely_ put him on edge. Izuku _loathed_ crowds, and tried to avoid them as much as possible. He took a deep breath and entered his stealth mode, essentially erasing his presence.

He noticed a hooded figure in the bushes nearby, and his heart leapt into his throat. He immediately let his eyes roam over towards the press again, pretending that he didn't see the small form of a young man who would later destroy the entire world.

It took every bit of self-control he had to not sneak up behind the unsuspecting psychopath and murder him then and there. _Stick to the plan. You can only get away with murder if it's at USJ… You _have_ to do this, Izuku. For them. You must. _

He prayed to whatever deity pitied him enough to listen that he wouldn't regret passing up this opportunity. He ignored the tiny voice in the back of his head that promised that he would regret it.

He snuck by the press without anyone noticing him, and dropped his stealth mode only once he was inside the gates. He noticed Aizawa-sensei raise an eyebrow.

"I'm okay, sensei. I just don't like crowds." He shuddered a bit, remembering how the Nomu would tear through the early riots that had formed. The people who thought that coming together in a massive mob would bring a stop to the atrocities that kept multiplying around them.

"Come on, kid." Aizawa gently patted his shoulder to ground him to _now_. "Let's get ready for class. Do you have the permission slip?"

"Yep." Izuku answered, pulling out the signed paper. Aizawa inspected it for a moment before nodding.

"All right, then."

Homeroom was relatively quiet. Somehow, Izuku got elected as Class Rep, and he wanted _nothing_ to do with that job. "No." He said, surprising the others.

"What? Why not?" Yaoyorozu asked, perplexed. Izuku honestly had no idea how he'd gotten this position anyhow. He wouldn't exactly call himself likable, and he'd hardly interacted with his classmates.

"Because I don't want it. I don't do well with crowds, and leadership is _not_ my forte. It's also too much work." He leaned back in his seat. "Why not have Iida do it?" He suggested.

"I appreciate the recommendation, but surely you can see how much being the class representative will help your hero career?"

"I'm planning to go into Underground Heroics. I don't really care what people think of me." Izuku answered easily, enjoying the slight jolt that came from the 'sleeping' Aizawa in the corner.

"You mean you're going into the same field as sensei?" Uraraka asked.

"Yep. If I'm going to be the first Quirkless Hero, then I need to take every advantage I can get. I won't be able to win easily in long, drawn-out fights. But smaller, faster fights where I can have the element of surprise? Those are more my speed. As long as I'm helping people, that's all I care about. I don't need recognition."

"Is that why your hero costume is so plain?" Ashido asked.

"It's _practical_." Izuku argued with a mildly offended glare. He _liked_ his costume. Luckily, it was fireproof so it wasn't damaged in the scuffle the other day. The only reason his leg had been burned so badly was because the fabric had been pushed up at some point during the fight, exposing his leg to the flames. _Ow._

After said homeroom, classes continued on as usual. Izuku _did_ notice that the teachers kept a much closer eye on him (as he'd suspected they would), which was simultaneously annoying and heartwarming. At least he knew they cared.

His free period was actually after lunch today, but he wasn't expecting to have to go to Hound Dog, what with the commotion that would unfold during the lunchtime fiasco. And besides, he was expecting his new schedule from Nezu here shortly. He was honestly looking forward to the private lessons with the principal.

Lunch wasn't supposed to be a big affair, but Izuku knew it would be. He sat by the window, tense and ready for the alarm when it would go off. This would also give him a damn good view of the front gate, which was still whole and still in lockdown mode from when the reporters triggered it earlier.

He faintly noticed a few of his classmates sit down at his table, but he didn't bother to acknowledge them. He didn't know why they were sitting with an antisocial asshole like him, but it didn't matter anyways. He eyed the clock. Less than a minute, now. They were chatting about something that Izuku didn't bother to pay attention to.

_Five… four… three…_

"Midoriya? Are you okay?" Iida tried asking.

_Two…_ Izuku grabbed his phone and zoomed in on the door, pressing record. If anyone asked, he was just making a… what was it? Tiktok? Of the door in lockdown mode.

"I think he's just tired from yesterday." Uraraka smiled softly.

"Yeah, I hear Recovery Girl's Quirk can really tire you out." Kirishima noted.

_One…_ Izuku watched as the door of U.A. disintegrated, inviting the press inside. The grin of a man in a hoodie was caught on camera before he turned around and left. _Shigaraki_ _Tomura._

_He left? But then how did they get the… rec…ords?_ His eyes widened in horrified realization. _There's a mole. This is a distraction to allow them to reach the records…_

"I wonder if—" Asui was cut off when the alarm abruptly sounded, shrieking through the school. An automated voice was explaining that there was a breach and all students should calmly evacuate to the bunkers.

"Midoriya! We have to go!" Iida pulled Izuku out of his seat. He flinched when Iida touched him, but nodded along.

"It's a panic, though. We can't just rush in there." Izuku stopped them, ignoring how every instinct in him wanted to hide and get away from the _loud noise_ because something that loud would attract every Nomu in a fifty-mile radius. "Someone's going to get hurt… Look." Izuku pointed out the window. "It's only the press."

Iida's eyes went wide as he took in Izuku's words. With a smirk, Izuku let him go and use Uraraka's Quirk to calm down the student body. Asui watched Izuku with a sidelong look.

"You played him, Midoriya."

"So? He'll be a good class rep. And nobody's hurt from the stampede, so it's a win-win." He shrugged; ignoring the appraising look the girl was giving him.

"We should head out too. Also, call me Tsu, kero."

"All right, Tsu. Call me Izu" He smiled as they followed the rest of their classmates.

After everything had calmed down and everyone was back in class, Izuku was going to show Aizawa the video. Unfortunately, he didn't get the opportunity. He attempted to stay back and talk to him, but Iida shooed him out and onto the bus (now as the official class rep).

The bus ride was nerve wracking, but Izuku made himself stay calm. His nerves were still a little shot from the alarm earlier, and knowing what was to come didn't make things any easier. He fingered the extra items he'd snuck into school. In one pocket was his _probably_ illegal stash of a small amount of putty-like explosive. And in the other was his _definitely_ illegal set of modified fireworks.

Well, the _heavily modified _fireworks were illegal at school, but he had a damn good reason to bring it with him. He _knew_ what was going to happen, and he'd done his research.

He'd broken into U.A. a couple of nights ago (which was _really_ freaking hard, because he couldn't use his Student ID, because Nezu had an automated system that recorded who entered school grounds and at what time) and scouted out the outside of USJ, being careful not to trigger any sensors or be caught on any cameras. He'd created these fireworks with the express purpose of being able to break through the glass dome of the building.

"All right, we're here." Aizawa-sensei said, and herded everyone off the bus.

"Aizawa-sensei?" Izuku spoke up quietly, finally having the chance to speak to him alone.

"Midoriya? Are you sure you're okay for today?"

"Hai, sensei. I just… I think someone other than the press was part of that break-in earlier." He sighed. "I caught the door disintegrating on my phone's camera, and the person who did it didn't even come inside."

"I see… come with me after class, and we'll show Nezu." With that, he beckoned Izuku to follow him over to the rest of the class.

They walked inside, and while the others were jittery with excitement, Izuku felt nearly sick with nerves. He would willingly admit that Shigaraki terrified the _shit_ out of him. But he also knew that he had to kill the man.

This wouldn't be Izuku's first kill. His first kill had been accidental, while he'd still been trying to understand the whole vigilante thing. It was honestly something that _still_ kept him up at night sometimes, even if it _had_ been a villain. And that hadn't been his only kill, either—not by a long shot.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, ignoring Aizawa and Thirteen's watchful and concerned gaze.

It wouldn't matter, now, anyways, if they saw something wrong. He felt it a moment before it happened. Thirteen had _just_ finished their speech, and Izuku felt guilty that he'd been too distracted to pay any mind to it.

Then the lights flickered—must be the signal jammer that Shou had told him about—cutting off Aizawa-sensei. Izuku had his sword in his hands a moment later, his body falling into a very natural fighting position.

The fountain flickered as a familiar—to him—purple portal tore open the fabric of space, allowing a horde of villains to pour through.

A head of light blue hair and a face covered by a dismembered hand appeared, red eye glowing with malice. Izuku shivered hard, biting back a growl.

In his mind's eye, he saw Shouta's last moments. His face crumbling beneath that very same hand. Nemuri vanishing with a startled scream into the void of that same portal, never to be seen again.

Izuku felt hot anger well up inside of him, right alongside the sickening fear. Shigaraki Tomura—the _destroyer_.

"Thirteen! Protect the students!" Aizawa's voice called out, and Iida tugged Izuku away.

The physical contact snapped him out of his haze, and he nodded his thanks. Thirteen shot him a concerned glance, but said nothing. There was no time, anyways.

In the original timeline, Asui, who'd been sent to the Shipwreck zone alone, had died. Izuku had _promised_ Shouta that he'd prevent as many deaths from the Cursed Class 1–A as he could. He intended to at least keep _this_ promise, since he failed his promise to Zashi.

This in mind, he stuck close to Asui as Kurogiri blocked their exit. Izuku clenched his fists. Kurogiri was second on his kill list. _He's the reason Nemuri…_

Before he could get too caught up in his anger, the ground beneath him vanished. He latched on to Asui, ensuring his arrival at the Shipwreck Zone, but only realized belatedly that Kirishima had also latched on to him. _What?! But he was supposed to go to the Ruins Zone with Bakugo!_

He managed to angle himself when he hit the water to minimize damage. Fortunately, it wasn't his first time being dropped from a good height into a large body of water, so he quickly released a small amount of air and followed the bubbles.

He noticed a guy with a Shark Quirk swimming up towards him, his fang-filled maw open wide to bite Izuku in half. Izuku raised his sword, ready to plunge it up into the guy's brain. Okay, so maybe he was a little _too_ used to killing by this point in his life. Whatever, it was legal right now.

A moment later, a thick _something_ wrapped around his midsection and pulled him up onto the boat. Asui hopped up a moment later, Kirishima in tow.

"You okay, Izu?" She asked as Kirishima coughed a bit.

"Yeah, thanks to you." He sent her a smile.

"This is bad…" Kirishima swallowed. "We're surrounded by _actual_ villains."

"It'll be okay." Izuku reassured them.

"How can you be so damn _calm_?! These are _actual fucking Villains!_" He snapped back, before meekly apologizing. "S-sorry. I'm just…"

"It's okay to be on edge, Kero." Asui reassured the red head. "Though you're awfully calm, kero." She turned to Izuku.

"I wouldn't exactly call this my _first_ encounter with villains." Izuku answered after a moment. He looked at the two frazzled and high-strung students. "It's okay." He repeated, voice low and calm. He looked them both in the eye. "I'll protect you."

Something flashed in Kirishima's eye, and he calmed significantly. Even Asui looked calmer.

"I have a plan." Izuku smirked as he pulled out a small bit of the explosive putty.

"What _is_ that?" Asui eyed it carefully.

"The closest thing I could get to C-4. Thought it might be useful for heroics."

"You brought an _explosive_ to school?!" Kirishima gawked.

"Shh! We just need to throw it in the middle of them without them realizing it. It'll float, and blow them unconscious." Izuku explained.

"Or kill them, kero…" Asui looked uneasy.

"I'll take full responsibility for whatever happens." Izuku stated, though Asui didn't look overly relieved at that.

"I don't think we have much of a choice, here." Kirishima swallowed as their situation really started to set in. "So you just need to get that in the middle without them realizing it?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome. Leave it to me." Kirishima grinned as he grabbed the offered putty. "My Quirk will protect me from the explosion, even if it makes me sink."

"Be careful." Izuku warned.

"Always."

Izuku and Asui then started distracting the villains while Kirishima quietly slid off the boat and under the water. His red hair was unfortunately eye-catching, so he'd have to stay under. Izuku wasn't used to working with people, and didn't know if Kirishima would actually hold up his side of the plan.

Turned out, he worried for nothing. The kid had an amazing lung capacity, and managed to get in the middle of the villains before letting go of the putty, which promptly floated to the surface. Izuku saw the small grayish substance bobbing in the water amidst the villains as Kirishima snuck back onto the boat.

Izuku grinned. Now it was the fun part. "Now, we need to throw something there…" He held up a heavy looking ball that he'd found on the boat. "Be ready to cover your ears—this could be loud. I haven't tested it before."

"You're sure this'll work, kero?" Asui asked, as the ship gave an ominous creaking sound. The villains were getting impatient, and Izuku knew it wouldn't be long before they launched an attack of their own.

"It _has_ to." Izuku steeled himself and threw it right into the middle of the group. "I _won't_ let you die." Almost instantaneously, the explosives went off—setting off one another in a massive chain reaction.

The sound was deafening, and water—some of it red—rained down upon them. Asui and Kirishima had closed their eyes with the sound, but Izuku kept his eyes and ears as open as he could to survey for survivors or danger.

After a long silent moment—and damn that silence was _hard_ on him—he finally deemed the enemies incapacitated or dead. There were a few limbs floating in the water, and he really didn't want these two kids to see that.

He gently put a hand on Asui and Kirishima's shoulders. "It's just me." He reassured them, while blocking their view. They would still see red in the water, but nothing more. "Let's go. They're taken care of, we've survived."

"T-there's so much_ red_…" Kirishima went to look around Izuku, but he stopped him.

"You don't want to look." Izuku argued, physically turning the boy around to face the other direction. "We need to go. I take full responsibility for this."

"All right, kero." Asui looked a little pale and very uncomfortable, but she didn't try to look. Eventually, the three made it passed the carnage in the water—the two without looking—and slowly made their way towards the square.

Of course, Asui and Kirishima weren't about to leave him alone, much to his annoyance. He wanted them to just go off to safety by the stairs, but either way, they had to circle around the plaza where Aizawa was fighting.

Izuku had known that Shouta got hurt pretty badly during the USJ incident. That he'd been touch and go for a little bit, and almost didn't make it.

He hadn't been prepared to see a _Nomu_ smash his skull into the pavement, though. Izuku went still, fighting his instinct of protection, as he knew running out to help him would only put Asui and Kirishima in danger. The two students watched on in horror as blood flew through the air, and yellow goggles fell to the ground, broken.

The Nomu snapped Aizawa's arms like they were _twigs_, and Izuku almost ran out at the all too familiar sound of his _brother_ crying out in _pain_. He stilled himself, though. _Don't attack. Get the students to safety. _

Izuku _did_ react when Shigaraki lunged for Asui. He leapt out of the water and met him halfway, stopping him from putting the other two in danger. He allowed those five fingers to brush his left cheek for the briefest of moments, wincing at the familiar bite of disintegration. He smirked.

Now it was self-defense.

_Now_, he could legally kill this bastard. His mental gears switched from defend to _attack_.

He noticed Aizawa was still awake, trying to make sense of his environment through his concussion. Izuku pulled out his sai and tried impaling Shigaraki, only succeeding in piercing his shoulder (which was still _massively_ satisfying). He managed to twist it before pulling it back out, causing the man-child to grunt in pain.

"NOMU!" He cried out, jumping back.

Izuku's smirk widened, grateful for his previous encounters with the White Nomu, who were a fair bit faster than the Dark Nomu. He swiftly dodged the blow that would've surely flattened him. The monster kept coming, though, and Izuku smoothly dodged.

He was gearing up to attack, when Kurogiri formed a small portal under his left foot, throwing him off-balance. The Nomu punched him, sending him flying into the fountain with a mighty crash. He didn't waste time with the pain, though. If anything, it only made him sharper. He was _used_ to fighting injured. This was familiar.

He grinned through bloodied teeth as he charged the Nomu through the settling dust. He dodged a punch, and rolled behind the Dark Nomu before scaling the back of the beast in an old familiar pattern. With a well-practiced motion, he thrust his sai deeply into the creature's brain and _twisted,_ the two prongs making quick work of the beast's exposed cranium.

Killing Nomu was a well-practiced activity for him. He'd killed hundreds of them before. This was a prototype—one of _Sensei's_ Nomu. It was infinitely easier than what _he_ had been used to (which was good, because his smaller, younger self wasn't as fast as his older self). Shigaraki's Nomu tended to be specialized. Sensei's Nomu were rounded—jacks of all trades, so to speak. They had speed, strength, and self-healing.

Shigaraki made a Nomu for each category, allowing them to excel in that particular trait. White Nomu, for example, were _insanely_ fast, but not very strong. Dark Nomu were ridiculously strong, but not overly fast. It was give and take, but if you ran into more than one type, you were _screwed_ six ways to hell.

With a horrifying ear-piercing screech, the creature fell forwards and lay still. _The original Nomu were a lot more tame… _He noted. Obedient, they couldn't think for themselves or adapt to a battle on their own. That was good to know.

Shigaraki stared at him wide-eyed; his expression mirrored by a flabbergasted Kurogiri, Asui, Kirishima, and Aizawa. Nobody dared speak, but Izuku used their stupor to his advantage as he pulled the homemade flare from his bag. Luckily, he'd kept it in waterproof packaging. It was small, about the size of a book, but it packed one _hell_ of a punch.

"Forgive me for breaking the school rules, Sensei." He smirked as he lit it, sending it through the weakest point of the glass dome. "But backup should be here shortly." He laughed as the glass rained down upon them. The angered and disbelieving glare set into Shigaraki's face would surely give him nightmares, but the adrenaline in his system right now helped quell the fear. He flashed the man a peace sign, before dusting the glass and rubble off his person far too casually as he got to his feet.

"Who _are_ you, brat?! You're not just some NPC… Are you a boss? A hack?" Shigaraki glared. Gamer talk? Okay, he could handle that.

"Hate to break it to you, Shigaraki, but I'm Player 2, and I refuse to let you win." He glared back, grip on his sai tightening. "Player 2 with several cheats and _expensive_ upgrades." He tacked on, enjoying the look of rage that flew across the man's face. As much as this man terrified him, he'd rather that anger be turned on _him_ than anyone else. If he could get this guy to see _Izuku_ as his main target, then maybe the other kids and teachers would be safe. If only for a little while.

That was insurance for if he failed, here. If he didn't manage to kill Shigaraki, he wanted the man to want to come after _Izuku_.

_I can't botch this. I have to kill him. I can't lose._

"We'll see about that." Shigaraki glared. "I'm Shigaraki Tomura. But you already seem to know that." His eyes narrowed. "What's your name, Player Two?"

"Izuku." They stared at one another in silence for a moment before they were off. Izuku sacrificed one sai to Shigaraki's left hand as he quickly dropped the now useless hilt and punched the man in the gut, even as Shigaraki placed a hand on his shoulder.

Izuku spun away, clenching his jaw as his shoulder partially disintegrated. He gritted his teeth as he ran back into combat with the man. He somehow managed to avoid any disintegrating hits as the two clashed, trading blows and bruises and kicks for what felt like forever.

"Your level is higher than I thought." Shigaraki panted lightly, Izuku was in a similar state, his other sai had been thrown halfway across the square. His sword had followed suit not too long after, now stuck in the ground near Aizawa.

"I _told_ you. I've got cheats." He teased. "Plus, I've done some serious level-crunching. And I read the guide-book." Anything to piss this guy off. Make him have eyes _only_ for Izuku. An angry enemy is one that makes mistakes.

"You really _are_ a cheater." He glared. "I hate players like you."

"What, like you aren't a cheater, too, Tomura? That Nomu of yours was a hack if I've ever seen one."

"Fair enough." Shigaraki grinned.

"Oh, and I'm a PKer, too." Izuku warned in a low dangerous tone, as he brought out a knife, and Shigaraki laughed.

"Are you really threatening to _kill_ me? Aren't you planning to become a hero?" He laughed, dodging Izuku's swipe to his jugular, the hand on his face flew off, and Shigaraki's enraged expression became clear as day for Izuku.

Izuku glared at him with one of his own. For a moment, he saw the man who murdered his family. The man who disintegrated _children_ and left helpless infants laying next to their half decayed mothers to starve to death. The man that would destroy the world. Izuku saw _red_.

"I _am_ going to be a hero." Izuku promised. "By ending _you_, Shigaraki Tomura."

Shigaraki stiffened at the sheer amount of Killing Intent that Izuku gave off. That gave Izuku the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

Just as the doors flew open with a mighty bang… as the teachers came upon the scene of one coworker laying in a pool of blood surrounded by worried students and one student fighting a rather nasty looking villain…

Izuku buried the hilt of a knife in Shigaraki's gut and _twisted_. He knew instantly that he'd missed the vital organs—the man had moved at the last minute. In a moment of instinct, he brought up his hidden blade from his sleeve and slashed just to the right of his own ear, hitting Shigaraki's palm and _nearly_ severing a finger. _Damnit! So close!_

"You really _do _want me dead." He stared at Izuku for a moment like he was a new and interesting puzzle. Then he grinned, reaching out a hand to disintegrate some other part of Izuku, as the time traveling vigilante readied himself for another chance to kill this bastard.

A gunshot—Snipe, more than likely—rang through the air as Shigaraki's shoulder was hit, causing the man to stumble back. Izuku was stopped from chasing after him when Cementoss built up a wall around him and the other students, protecting them from the villains. Izuku _almost_ sent the teacher a fierce glare. _Almost_.

He watched, helpless, as Shigaraki made his escape with Kurogiri.

"Izuku…" Shigaraki spoke with one foot in the portal. "Next time, one of our health bars _will_ hit zero. And it won't be me." Then, he was gone. _At least I got him to focus his attention on me for the time being. _

Izuku was angry and fiercely disappointed. This was their _best shot_, and he fucking blew it, like a goddamned idiot.

"You okay, Little Listener?" Hizas—_Yamada_-sensei made his way towards him. "You're hurt pretty bad."

"I…" He swallowed down his disappointment. He wanted _his_ Zashi. Not this… this… _fake_. Because that's what he felt like, to Izuku. A fake. A pretender. Because it _wasn't_ his Hizashi. It wasn't _his_ Shouta. These people weren't his family… but they sounded the same… they looked so similar, and they shared the same names… but…

"It's not them." He whispered, fighting back the tears. _And I can't even apologize._

"Come again?" Yamada was looking at him in concern.

"Hey, Sensei… Is everyone alive? Did I at least get that part right?"

Yamada looked at him with confusion and no small amount of worry. "Everyone is alive. Shouta's alive, and so are all your classmates." He confirmed, and Izuku felt himself relax a bit.

"At least I kept that promise."

"Come on, Midoriya. Let's get your injuries taken care of." He carefully scooped Izuku up into a bridal style hold, mindful of his wounds. Izuku didn't honestly care, at that point.

"I guess I should get that taken care of." He winced as his hand brushed the side of his face. His shoulder hurt, too, now that he thought about it. With a heavy sigh, he rested his aching head against Hizashi's chest, letting the familiar sound of his heartbeat lull him to sleep.

* * *

Yamada Hizashi hadn't known what to expect when he saw _fireworks_ of all things, go up from the USJ building. While fireworks weren't allowed on campus for _obvious_ reasons, a few defenses around the school had flares built in as a failsafe in case the electronic alarms failed. That was why nearly every teacher's podium had a view of the sky, and even the Teacher's Lounge could see it.

And while this wasn't a flare, fireworks could also work in a pinch. He couldn't take the chance that someone really needed help. He _had_ to go, classes be damned. He knew he wasn't the only teacher who'd think that way. This _was_ a Hero School, after all.

So it was to no one's surprise (except, perhaps, the students) when classes were abruptly abandoned and teachers ran out towards the source. Even All Might knew something was up, and came with them.

Nezu kept an all-terrain vehicle (it was more like a small tank, in Hizashi's humble opinion) by the school for a reason just like this. So all the teachers piled into it. Even All Might—on Nezu's insistence—saved his Hero Time for whenever they reached the place.

Hizashi had been the first to spot Iida running towards them in a panic, and that alone set alarm bells ringing. "Sensei!" He called desperately. "Villain Attack at USJ! Please hurry!"

Whatever they'd expected, it was _not_ this. A Villain Attack on the first year Heroics Class 1–A? _Shouta's class_… His heart tightened in his chest as they all drove faster.

"You okay, Iida?" Midnight asked in concern, seeing his bright red face.

"I… I just left them there… They told me to get reinforcements, but… There's a warp villain that scattered everyone around the building." He shuddered. "And there were hundreds of them all over the courtyard! Aizawa-sensei jumped right in to subdue them, but…"

Hizashi's gut twisted uncomfortably. That was_ not_ Shouta's fighting style. The situation must've been truly desperate if he jumped into a massive unknown situation headfirst like that… He prayed his husband would be okay… he was going to chew him out for that stupid move later.

"It'll be okay, Iida-kun." Cementoss smiled reassuringly at him. "You did the right thing, coming to get us."

"How did you know to come find us, though?" Iida's brows furrowed. "There was something blocking the signals…"

"Someone sent up fireworks." Nezu explained. "I'm not sure how a student would've gotten a hold of them, or why they would've brought them to school, but I'm not going to question that right now."

Nobody wasted any time in jumping out of the vehicle the moment they arrived. Hizashi held back a wince when he saw Thirteen unconscious on the ground, several students surrounding them in worry.

But it was then that they could _all_ see Midoriya _fighting_ a villain with hands all over his body. His movements were fluid and practiced despite his obvious injuries.

It was somewhat entrancing to watch him fight—like a dancer. It was also unnerving to see a child move with the grace and surety that few pros could lay claim to. Like he'd been fighting villains all his life. It wasn't normal, and it made his concern spike for the kid.

The body of a monster was discarded not too far from them, and Hizashi couldn't help but wonder what had happened there.

Midoriya buried a knife into the villain's gut without flinching. He then swiftly brought up his right hand in a slashing motion, hitting the villain's palm as he tried attacking from an angle that Midoriya couldn't have possibly seen.

The two separated for a moment, talking. Then they tensed, ready to continue fighting.

Snipe didn't hesitate in shooting the villain's shoulder, giving Midoriya the space he needed to disengage and flee. Only the kid _didn't_. He tried to attack the villain again. _Why?_

This looked personal to Hizashi. Midoriya must've known this villain, to be attacking him so ruthlessly.

Hizashi's heart nearly stopped when he saw Shouta laying in a pool of blood not too far off. _Or maybe the kid's just pissed about Shou…_ He looked over to the students to ask if he was alive, when Shouta himself sent him a glassy-eyed glare.

He let out a breath of relief. Shouta was alive.

He noticed Midoriya trembling. Cementoss had made a wall to separate him from the villains, so Hizashi made his way over.

"You okay, Little Listener?" Hizashi winced as he took in Midoriya's injuries. He could literally see the bone in his shoulder. "You're hurt pretty bad."

"I…" The kid swallowed thickly for a moment. His eyes looked far away, and Hizashi was afraid he'd fallen into one of those flashbacks Shouta had warned them about. "It's not them." He whispered, and Hizashi barely caught it.

"Come again?" _Not them? Who's not them? Who's not who?_ He was _very_ confused.

"Hey, Sensei… Is everyone alive? Did I at least get that part right?"

Hizashi felt his heart crack. This kid, even as injured as he was, was already acting like a seasoned pro, and it _hurt_ to see. He wasn't even worried about himself. _Get it right? What is he talking about? _He filed away that part for later. "Everyone is alive. Shouta's alive, and so are all your classmates." He confirmed, and he saw the kid relax a bit.

"At least I kept that promise."

"Come on, Midoriya. Let's get your injuries taken care of." He carefully scooped Midoriya up into a bridal style hold, mindful of his wounds. The kid was _way_ too light! Did he ever even _eat_?!

"I guess I should get that taken care of." He winced as his hand brushed the side of his face. Hizashi only noticed the blood in his dark hair when he rested his head against Hizashi's chest. The light reflected a little, and he brought up a hand. It came away red, and alarm bells went off.

"Hey, Little Listener." He gently tapped Midoriya's face. Nothing. "Shit."

"Is he all right?" Cementoss asked as he came over with Snipe.

"Kid's got a concussion, but he's already fallen asleep." Hizashi quickened his pace as he made his way outside to the ambulance.

Once he was loaded in the ambulance—Shouta's had already left—he shot Cementoss a look. "I'll head over to the hospital with Midoriya and Shouta. I'll keep you informed. Until then, please keep everyone under control."

"Right."

With that, the doors of the ambulance closed, and Hizashi listened to the familiar sound of the sirens as they headed to the hospital.

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: … Did you hear about UA?_**

**_Noiscardily: Your brother's okay, right?_**

**_Barbieisawhore: Yeah, villains attacked it, right?! Is he okay? It was class 1–A, wasn't it?!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Yeah, 1–A… that's my brother's class. He's fine, scared and shaken, but he wasn't hurt at all._**

**_MoldiBroccli: Oh, thank Viridian! _**

**_TheCakeisaLie: Thank Viridian? Was he part of this fight and I just didn't know it?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: No, but since we're the Cult of Viridian, I am now acknowledging Viridian as my God. So instead of God, I'm going to say Viridian. :) _**

**_DragoninaDress: Hold up, wasn't Deku also in 1–A? Deku are you okay?_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Yeah, Deku's in my brother's class. He told me Deku was hurt really badly. He fought all these villains himself, it was so manly! But he got hurt really badly. He's in the hospital, last I heard. _**

**_Noiscardily: Holy shit… I hope he'll be okay. _**

**_Barbieisawhore: I'll keep an ear out on the cops side of things. _**

**_Ihavenoname: I may not know a lot that goes on, but I've got some ears in places. I'll let you know if I hear anything. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: Please be okay, Deku…_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: I'm going to go. I'll let you know as soon as I hear something. _**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi has logged out]_**


	11. Chapter 11: On the Edge of Destruction

_**A/N: Wow! I can't believe how amazing you all are! I've written and finished this chapter in one day for you all! *Getting ready to head out the door to work* **_

_**I finally tried my hand at a Villain Deku Cosplay, and I rather like it. *Grins* Maybe I'll even write something with that eventually. Check out the pictures on Instagram! ;) **_

_**Please stay safe with Corona! I cannot stress this enough, because I care about you!**_

_**To my readers! This website won't let me put links from outside stories. So replace with . and you should be able to follow the links I give you. ^^ And, obviously, remove the spaces. **_

_**I can't really think of anything else to put right now, so read on, my friends! And please enjoy. ^^  
OH! And any fanart you may have can be sent in to aizawa  
That's aizawa for my readers. **_

* * *

"Zuku…" Izuku looked over to Shouta. He was filthy, covered in dirt and grime and blood, but Izuku wasn't much better either. It'd been two months since Hizashi's death, and the two were _slowly_ starting to get back on their feet. It was hard, incredibly so, for the two pessimists to pull themselves together.

At one point, soon after the incident, Shouta had suggested ending it all. And Izuku had nearly agreed. But he'd never been the kind of person to just _give up_. Besides—he had a promise to keep, even if Shouta hated him for what he did.

"Shou. We _have_ to. We were nearly found the other day, and I don't want to just sit around anxiously waiting for them to close in on us." Izuku argued as he cleaned his sword. It would never be the same as it was, but it had _somehow_ survived the lightning strike. The metal was astonishingly _not_ warped, as he'd expected (maybe because the charge went through the Nomu?), so the blade was still usable. Though it had a pretty cool pattern now if you held it against the light just right. "I _promised_ him I'd look after you." Yes, he was being an ass and pulling the Zashi card. Shouta flinched and sent him a glare.

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fucking fair." He bit back. Shou didn't have to like him—he just needed to stay alive.

They glared at one another for a long moment before Shouta finally sighed. "Fine. We'll find another location to set up base." He glanced around, despairingly.

Izuku knew why he was so hesitant to leave… this place held so many memories. Of Hizashi… of Nemuri… Dabi and Higari… Tamaki… of everyone they'd loved and lost in this hell. And now, only the two of them were left. It was a sobering thought.

"Thank you, Shou." Izuku gave him a hug, and the man reciprocated. It'd been _hard_ the last two months. They'd developed a sort of love-hate relationship. Shouta was still angry with Izuku for leaving Hizashi, and Izuku wouldn't blame him if he never forgave him—Izuku wasn't sure he'd ever forgive himself, honestly.

But at the same time, they were all they had left, and Shouta still thought of Izuku as a baby brother. It was mutual. Though lately, with Shouta's near crippling depression (some days, he couldn't even get the man out of his cot), Izuku felt more like the older brother. It was _fucking hard_ to take care of someone else.

But things had gotten dangerous again. They'd stayed in this location for nearly three years, now. They'd gotten complacent, and it would cost them dearly unless they abandoned this faux safety now. He resolutely ignored the traitorous part of his mind that whispered it already_ had_ cost them dearly.

There was no truly safe place in this world anymore. Izuku learned that years ago.

They packed what they needed in their backpacks, and left in the early hours of the morning. Izuku didn't know how long they traveled for, but he'd guesstimate several months. They camped without fire, huddling together for warmth as they tried to shield each other from the biting cold. It must've been winter, or something—early winter, by the feel of it. No snow yet, but it seemed to get colder and colder each night.

They took turns keeping watch, neither of them ever fully sleeping. Whenever they thought they could finally rest, the distant—or sometimes not so distant—cry of a Nomu would jolt them awake.

Days were spent traveling, and nights were spent in a paranoid state of semi-rest, listening to the wind howl through the carcasses of cities and abandoned highways where cars sat to rot.

Whenever possible, they slept in trees, where they'd have a better vantage point and attack position should a Nomu wander too close. Luckily, Yellow Nomu—or the ones that could fly—were few and far between. Even still, they took terns sleeping.

Sometimes, Izuku missed the original Nomu. They were mindless and simply obeyed orders. But these ones were made from the husks of hardened criminals and villains, and retained that want and _need_ for chaos, murder, and bloodshed.

Some of them could even breed, and that's where shit _really_ got scary. That's how the Feral Nomu came to be, and the only person that could control them was Shigaraki himself. Of course, the man had no intentions of reigning in his creations, instead letting them roam free on a global scale.

_Those_ Nomu, despite the fact that they were still _Nomu_, could actually think and plan to an extent. They worked like a pack of wolves, with absolutely devastating results.

Izuku wondered how much of humanity actually remained, now. They hadn't seen another survivor in _years_. For all they knew, they were all that was left. His mind flitted to the rumors of the underground resistance group. Had they survived? If so, they weren't anywhere near Izuku and Shouta.

When the snow finally came, they built themselves snow-caves to help trap in the heat. Even so, they nearly froze to death more times than they cared to count, and they'd quickly become used to the now normal routine of waking one another up every few hours to make sure they were alive.

Izuku briefly recalled the one time he almost couldn't wake up Shouta, and had to share body heat to keep the man alive. He vaguely recalled another time where the positions had been reversed, and decided that freezing to death in your sleep wasn't such a bad way to go.

Somehow, they managed to survive the cold with most of their toes still attached. They built small fires whenever they could (though sometimes, the heat and light drew Nomu towards them, and they could only warm up for a few precious minutes before having to run out into the biting cold once more), but eventually, the weather _finally_ started to warm up.

Izuku wasn't sure he'd ever been more grateful for Global Warming.

It'd been nearly four months before Izuku stumbled across a very well hidden bunker in some wasteland that he assumed had once been part of a city. The area had been blown clear of debris and was instead covered in snow, like a small desert. It stretched as far as he could see, though he knew that the rock formations that jutted out of the snow were from buildings and homes that had once stood there. (he'd later note that the area was covered in sand, there was quite a bit of rubble laying under those layers of icy death. And during the spring and summer, plants would flourish)

Sometimes, he was _still_ baffled that this was actually a city just a few years ago. (Later, he'd accidentally stumble across the ruins of U.A. High, and realize that they were in Musutafu.)

The bunker was some kind of underground lab, and Izuku found their explanation in the form of a stack of notes. He ignored the pile of bones that wore a white lab coat, and looked at the deceased man's research.

"S-Shouta…?" His eyes were wide and his hands trembled, and not from the cold for once.

"Izuku? What's wrong?" He asked urgently, looking around them for any sign of danger. Bits of the frost from outside still clung to his dark greasy hair. Izuku idly noted that they needed to find a way to shower.

"I… I think… we've stumbled upon… something incredible." He handed the notes over to the once-hero, and let him digest what the scientists had deemed "Project Hope".

"Is this… _time travel_?" Shouta echoed, staring at the papers Izuku had given to him. A white sheet tossed haphazardly over a large object in the center of the room caught Izuku's attention.

"Yes." He pulled it down, revealing a mostly-finished archway. "This is our hope, Shouta. This is our chance."

Izuku locked eyes with Shouta. For the first time in _years_, they weren't dull. Their eyes weren't dead or full of grief and loss. They were burning with _hope_.

"Can we really do this?" Shouta asked. "I can hardly make heads or tails of these notes."

"You forget." Izuku grinned, chuckling lowly. "I have a PhD in Computer Science. These notes make perfect sense to me." Shouta matched his grin with one of his own.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Let's get to work."

* * *

Izuku awoke to the sound of beeping and whirring machines. Had he fallen asleep working on Project Hope again? He blinked groggily, foreign drugs making his brain hazy and sluggish. _A… hospital?_ He furrowed his brows. But hospitals had been gone for _years_, and if any remained, they surely wouldn't be so _clean_. Solar and wind couldn't run so many machines, either.

Then he caught sight of Shouta, sitting up in the bed beside him. He was talking with Hizashi and Nemuri, and Izuku suddenly _remembered._ He was in the past. The entire mess hadn't happened yet, and he'd just survived the USJ attack.

"Oh, he's awake. Hey, Little Listener." Hizashi shot Izuku a grin, and he couldn't help but smile back softly.

_"Hey, Little Listener, I'm glad you're still with us." Zashi smiled softly as he helped Izuku sit up in bed._ He blinked away the memory.

"How're you feeling, hon?" Nemuri asked.

_"You got hurt pretty bad—you were touch and go for a while." Nemuri smiled softly, pulling Izuku into a hug. "I was so worried—my baby boy's gonna be okay, though." _

_"Moooom!" Izuku complained with a fond smile. "I'm a grown adult!" _

_"You're still a kid to us, Problem Child." Shouta ruffled his hair gently. _

_"You had us all worried. Tamaki wouldn't stop crying." Dabi chimed in, and Izuku sent his brothers a smile. _

_"HEY!" Tamaki glared at Dabi, who just shrugged nonchalantly._

_"What? It's true." _

_"I'm okay, now. Thanks." Izuku smiled._

Izuku shook his head to bring himself back to reality, noting the concerned expressions on the three teachers.

"I-I'm okay. A little sore, and kinda out of it, but I think that's the painkillers." He reached over and grabbed a glass of water from his bedside table, pushing himself into a sitting position with a small wince. The sheet slid down around him, though he hardly paid it any mind. The room wasn't _that_ cold—not after surviving four months in the dead of winter with nothing but the hole-ridden coat on your back.

"Hey, take it easy!" Yamada admonished. "You're hurt pretty… badly." Izuku didn't notice his gaze trained on his torso.

"Eh, I've had worse." Izuku shrugged as he drained the glass. He was still trying to shake off the memories. He felt like Tamaki or Dabi could burst into the room at any moment.

"Had worse." Kayama echoed in disbelief.

"You really _are_ a Problem Child." Aizawa sighed, and Izuku's heart stuttered for a moment as he looked over at him. He locked eyes with all-too-familiar black. It was hidden well, but there was a shine of affection. Protective concern. _He finally called me Problem Child._

"All those scars…" Midnight's eyes were wide in horror as she looked at Izuku, who abruptly realized why having no shirt on was a bad thing.

Yamada and Aizawa stared in transfixed horror for a moment as well.

Izuku was going to say something when Nezu came in, a familiar detective trailing in behind him. _Shiiiit_. Izuku tilted his head. "A-am I in trouble?"

"No, not at all." The detective reassured, eyes flickering to his scarred torso for a moment. "I am Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. I know it's a little short-notice, but I need your statement of the USJ Incident."

_Oh._ Izuku wracked his brain. It was so strange to be before Tsukauchi as _Midoriya_ and not _Viridian._

"Now, I'm required to inform you, before we start—my Quirk is called Human Lie Detector, and I'll be able to tell if you lie at any time."

_Nothing I didn't already know_. Izuku mentally sighed. How was he going to play this? He could think of several scenarios.

He could reveal himself as a time-traveler, and possibly recruit them to help him in his quest to kill Shigaraki, but then there was also the drawback that they'd think he's crazy (or blame the concussion). He wasn't sure if Naomasa's Quirk revealed the _actual_ truth, or just what that person _thought_ was true (maybe he'd inquire about that as Viridian later). It was a pretty far stretch, and while he was fairly sure they'd trust him…

_They'd trust Viridian._ He mentally corrected. _Not Midoriya Izuku._

Either way, he didn't want to risk it. Not today, at least. Not until he had proof. Like the papers he kept in the camper.

He could also reveal himself as Viridian, and explain himself that way… but again, Shouta's too soft on children, and would limit his movements as a vigilante. Plus, that'd call his living arrangements into question, and he rather liked living alone (Keigo didn't count, he was a part-time freeloader). Not to mention all the questions that'd be brought up regarding his age, as he hadn't lied when he told Naomasa about failing all those exams. Which would bring him back to the time travel dilemma. Nope. Izuku did _not_ have the energy to open that can of worms today.

"First off, your name."

"Midoriya Izuku."

"All right. Now, in your own words, recount the USJ Incident."

"Well, it was supposed to be a class field trip. Thirteen gave us a speech that I can't really remember clearly, and then…" His eyes darkened a little. "And then a portal opened. Villains spilled out into the plaza, and Kurogiri—the guy with the Warp Quirk—scattered all of us students." Izuku closed his eyes for a moment. He wasn't traumatized by this incident, but he_ should_ be. If he was a normal kid, he should be completely wrecked by this near-death experience. But they already knew he had trauma, so maybe he could use that? "I ended up in the shipwreck zone with Tsu and Kirishima. I… erm…" He winced. How was he going to explain away the explosives?

"Asui and Kirishima both attested to you bringing explosives to school. Mind explaining?" Naomasa raised an eyebrow as he spoke. Nezu also looked curious. The three other teachers in the room turned to stare at Izuku incredulously.

"I had a really bad feeling this morning." Izuku sighed. "And something told me to take it with me. I like working on support items in my spare time, so I made some explosive putty. It was a precaution." He mentally patted himself on the back for his wording—not a single lie.

"Six villains died in that explosion." Naomasa's tone wasn't accusatory. Izuku thought he was looking for a reaction.

"I…" Izuku looked down for a moment. Sure, it wasn't his first kill, but he still didn't like having to do so. "I hate it." He clenched the sheets for a moment. "Killing isn't right, but if it was between my classmates and the villains… I couldn't think of any other way out of that situation that didn't involve serious injuries on our side. They attacked us first—it was self-defense." He looked the detective in the eye.

"I know. You won't be charged with anything, due to the circumstances, I just wanted you to know." He stated, but Izuku saw the shine of concern in everyone's eyes. _I'm going to have so many after school discussions with this… shit. _

"After that, we tried to get back to the front doors to regroup with our class, but… We had to skirt around the plaza. I saw Aizawa-sensei fighting, and… That Nomu was bashing his head into the ground. I wanted to help, but I knew that jumping into that would've drawn attention to my classmates…" He winced. "And then Shigaraki—the man with the Disintegration Quirk... or is it Decay?—tried attacking Tsu, and I just _reacted_." Izuku briefly ran a hand over the new scar on his left cheek. He'd have to be extra careful as Viridian when he stopped for coffee breaks with Aizawa. It was on his left cheekbone. "After that, it was mostly fighting."

"A few people said you looked like you were ready to kill. Do you know Shigaraki Tomura personally?"

"No. I don't know him personally." Izuku answered honestly. "I was scared." _For my classmates and Shouta. _

"Right." Naomasa nodded, and put his notebook away. "Thank you for your time. That's it for the questions on USJ. But there's just one more thing I wanted to ask you about."

Izuku stiffened. _Is it about the scars? Did they see my gunshot wound? Does he have suspicions about me being Viridian?! Did they search my backpack and find my vigilante outfit in the hidden compartment?_

"Are you safe at home?"

Izuku blinked in surprise. _They think these scars are…? Oh._ He relaxed a little internally.

"I'm safe at home." _I live alone in a trash heap; of course I'm safe._

"And those scars?"

Izuku self-consciously brought the sheets up to hide them—especially the gunshot wound on his arm that the detective had thankfully not yet seen. He flicked his eyes to Aizawa and Nezu.

"I've… been through a lot of shit. Stuff that I'm not comfortable talking about yet. It's still… too fresh." Yes, he was playing the trauma card. And it was going to fucking work.

_Shouta's eyes flashed red as he glared at Izuku. "You **left** him. How **could** you?!" _

_"He asked me to! I… I couldn't let you both die!" Izuku argued, but Shouta gritted his teeth. A sharp pain in his cheek made him stumble back, and it took Izuku a moment to realize that Shouta had slapped him. _

_He looked at his brother in shocked betrayal. Shouta had **hit** him._

_"No. You just didn't want to be **alone** again. You were being selfish, and because of that, I will never see my husband again!" Shouta stopped, catching his breath for a moment. His face became one of stone, as he spoke his next words as deliberately as he possibly could. "I will **never** forgive you for this, Midoriya Izuku. Never." _

A soft furry something on his arm made him startle, and Izuku's fist froze inches from his principal's head. He quickly flinched away. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to almost attack you!"

"It's all right, Midoriya. You were in a flashback—it's to be expected." The principal patted his arm comfortingly. _Huh. He really is soft. Kinda like a bunny._ "You don't have to talk about it now, but you will have to eventually."

"I… I know." He brought his hand up to his cheeks and roughly scrubbed the tears away. His hand went to the necklace before he abruptly realized that it was gone, and it took more self-control than he thought he'd had not to freak out. "Erm… my things… are they here?"

"All your things are safe." The principal assured him, before handing him the necklace, careful to keep the others from seeing it. "I thought you might like to hang on to this personally. You can't wear it in the hospital, though."

Izuku relaxed substantially as the familiar grooves of the metal graced his hand. "Thank you." He clenched his fist around it.

"Thank you for your time." Naomasa awkwardly bowed. He obviously hadn't meant to trigger a flashback, but Izuku was honestly relieved—the sooner the detective left, the safer his identities would be.

He opened the door, only to flinch back, nearly running into someone.

"Zukkun!" Keigo burst into the room, worry etched into his face as he rushed over to the bed. "The hell! You weren't answering your phone and you were late coming home, and then I get a call from U.A. saying that you'd been attacked and were in the hospital!"

"Sorry, Keicchan." Izuku awkwardly rubbed the back of his head as the teachers blinked in startled shock.

"You know Hawks?" Yamada choked out.

_Thank goodness we came up with a cover story. _

"Hm? Oh, yeah! Izuku and I are good friends." Keigo grinned. "And I'll expect the full story later." He added on with a meaningful look towards Izuku.

"You just hang out at my place to get away from your sidekicks." Izuku smirked, gently shoving the hero, making him laugh. "We met when he saved me from a villain attack not too long ago. After that, we became fast friends." He explained.

Naomasa's Quirk would tell him that that was the truth—he didn't need to know it was Stain and that Izuku was nearly killed.

"Problem Child." Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose, and Izuku's heart thumped. _He said it again._ "How often are you targeted by villains? Should I just start escorting you home?"

Luckily, Naomasa had left, so Izuku didn't have to spin vague truths. "Not too often. And I don't need a babysitter, sensei." Izuku stuck out his tongue.

"Oi. Show respect to your teachers." Keigo reprimanded.

"Yes, _mom_." Izuku smirked as the winged hero sighed.

"You're incorrigible."

"And you aren't?" Izuku laughed.

"They fight like brothers." Yamada whispered to Aizawa with a fond smile, who nodded.

"But it's good to see the kid smile. I don't think I've really seen him smile this whole time." Aizawa muttered back.

Izuku ignored them. Keigo's presence honestly kept the flashbacks and bad memories at bay. He reminded Izuku that things were _different_ this time, and that he wasn't alone.

_Maybe… _

* * *

Keigo was _not_ happy. He had been trying to reach Izuku for twenty minutes—he was late coming home from school, and with this kid's track record, he was hoping that Stain didn't come back to finish the job. He was about to go out and scour the city for his brother when U.A. called him to tell him that Izuku had been attacked along with the rest of his class, and the kid was in the _hospital_.

Thank goodness they'd had the foresight to list Keigo as Izuku's emergency contact (even if it was just a phone number without a name on U.A.'s list). This also meant that he could burst into the hospital to see him (being the #3 Hero came with perks, after all).

And as entertaining as it had been to see the shock and disbelief on the faces of the teachers in his room, Keigo found the more pressing issue to be his brother's physical wellbeing.

Izuku had been released from the hospital into his care later that day (again—#3 came with perks), and he was now seated in their living area. Hawks sipped on his tea as Izuku drowned himself in a pot of coffee.

"Time, I hate hospitals."

"Time? Isn't the saying 'God'?"

"I've stopped believing in gods, and instead devote myself to the worship of the only power that has ever done me a favor."

Keigo had learned to just accept Izuku's strange sayings. "So." He started. "Mind telling me why _villains_ attacked U.A.?"

Izuku leveled him with a very serious stare. Not for the first time, Keigo got the feeling that he was judging him for something.

"I… I think it's finally time to explain my past to you, Kei." Izuku said, and the winged hero blinked in surprise, nearly choking on his tea. _I really need to stop drinking beverages around Zukkun._ "It's going to sound absolutely insane, but… I _need_ you to believe me." The desperation in his eyes shocked him.

"I will." He promised. He meant it, too. Izuku was trusting him, here, and he _needed_ to learn to rely on other people.

"I… I'm from the future."

Keigo blinked. Once. Twice. No, he still had a very serious expression on his face. Was this a jo—oh, shit, he was _serious._ "How far in the future are we talking, here?"

"I was… probably around 43 when I went back in time. So… shit, what's the math? How old am I right now? Fifteen? Sooo… thirty-eight years in the future? Give or take a few years. We sort of ran out of calendars and phone chargers." He shrugged.

"Ran out?"

"You're taking this very well. I thought you'd need proof."

"I mean, you told me to trust you. Sure, proof would be nice, but it's not needed."

Izuku stared before laughing. "I'm sorry, it's just. I've been imagining how this would play out, and this was _not_ how I envisioned this." He smiled for a moment before his expression became grim. "The world ended when I was 33, Keigo. Shigaraki Tomura destroyed _everything_. He let the Nomu—these monsters comprised of multiple Quirks created from the husks of dead people—roam around and eat other people. I… I lost so many people I cared about. Shouta, Hizashi, Nemuri, Higari, Tamaki… Dabi…" Tears ran down his face, and everything started to click into place for Keigo.

The trauma, the flashbacks, how he hated silence and woke up an inconsolable mess some nights… his scars, and fighting prowess… his jumpiness and trust issues…

"I have to kill him, Kei… If I don't, everything will be for _nothing_. USJ was my _best. Fucking. Chance._ And I _blew it_. He was _right there_, and I—"

Keigo cut him off with a hug, startling the other man (because he wasn't apparently a kid, but a man in a kid's body? Okay, that was weird and Keigo was _not_ going to think about that.)

"It's okay, Zukkun. We'll do this together." He chuckled a bit when the kid looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What? You thought I'd run off and let you deal with murdering a psychopath alone? Besides, if we're going to get away with murder, you'll want the number three hero on your side." He smirked.

"Time, I'm glad to have you as a friend." Izuku wiped away his tears with a watery smile. "Shouta and I… we stumbled across a half-finished time portal named Project Hope." He continued before reaching into one of the cabinets that he'd forbid Keigo from going through.

He pulled out stacks of papers and a green jumpsuit that vividly reminded Keigo of his Viridian outfit. There was also a neatly folded outfit that looked patched, torn, bloodstained, and overall grimy and disgusting—even though it had likely been washed several times. "These are the research notes, in case I need to build another one, for some ungodly reason. And this was my old Vigilante outfit from the original timeline. And the clothes I was wearing when I got shoved through the portal."

"I… really can't understand these notes." Keigo admitted. "So who else knows?"

"You."

Keigo waited a moment, but realized that the vigilante wasn't going to continue. "W-wait! That's it!? You haven't told Detective Tsukauchi or Eraserhead or even Nezu?"

"They don't _know_ me you do, Keicchan. They don't even know who Viridian _is_." Izuku sighed, running a hand through his hair, wincing when he hit part of an injury.

"Careful! You're still hurt. I only sprung you out of that hospital with the promise of top-tier healthcare from my end."

"Which I greatly appreciate. I haven't been in a hospital since… Well, there was that gunshot wound this morning, but—"

"Gunshot wound?!"

"Hold on a sec." Izuku fished out his vigilante phone and typed something in. Keigo's phone buzzed.

**_ViridianChaos added MotherHen to the Chat_**

**_Fury: Viridian? Who's this? _**

**_MotherHen changed their name to ShadowSlayer_**

**_ViridianChaos: Really? ShadowSlayer? _**

**_ShadowSlayer: What? It sounds cool. _**

**_Dadzawa: I think he's ignoring your question. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Yo, Aizawa. You alive? Heard about your class. _**

"Heard about. Uh huh." Keigo leveled him with a look.

"Shut up." Izuku stuck out his tongue.

**_Dadzawa: I'm still alive… somehow. But I won't be if I don't get coffee soon. (By the way, this is Midnight texting on behalf of Eraserhead, as his hands aren't really fit for texting, atm)._**

**_ViridianChaos: Hold up—lemme add someone else. _**

**_ViridianChaos added Yamada to the Chat_**

**_Yamada changed their name to Scream_**

**_Scream: Hey, hey! New chat, what is this? Shou, you never told me you had friends!? I'm so PROUD! :') _**

**_Dadzawa: Shut up. God, Viridian, why'd you add him? _**

**_Scream: Viridian? Ooooh! _**

**_ViridianChaos: Hello, hello! Good to finally meet the esteemed husband of Eraserhead! Shouta's told me a lot about you! _**

**_Scream: Has he, now? ;)_**

**_ViridianChaos: Oh, yeah. Tons of stuff. (I've got the blackmail on him, if you want it. ;)) _**

**_Dadzawa: Goddamnit, Viridian! (I want it, too. –Mid)_**

**_Fury: For once, I'm glad I'm not the one being teased. _**

**_Tsuragamae: Welcome, Shadow and Yamada. Shadow, can we assume you are a friend of Viridian's? _**

**_ShadowSlayer: Well, I am making him a cup of coffee right now, so I assume so. Ow! Ridi! DON'T HIT ME, OR I'LL REVOKE COFFEE PRIVILEGES! _**

**_ViridianChaos: Shay, no. _**

**_ShadowSlayer: Shay, yes. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I'll burn your books. _**

**_ShadowSlayer: You wouldn't dare. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Wanna try me, bitch? After all I've been thru in my life? I ain't gonna cry over a few books. _**

The two held a short staring contest for a moment before Keigo looked away. "Ha." Izuku grinned.

**_ShadowSlayer: You are a horrible person. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I know! 0:) _**

**_Dadzawa: Wait, you mean you know Viridian's identity?! _**

**_ShadowSlayer: Maaaybe. If I did, it's something for him to tell you, not me. :P _**

**_Tsuragamae: If you ever need anything, feel free to ask. _**

**_Fury: But why add him now?_**

**_ViridianChaos: I got hurt again. :/ I won't be on patrol for a few days. Thought you'd like to know I've got someone with me to look after me so you don' me to another hospital, like you did this morning. :T _**

**_ShadowSlayer: You're on bedrest for more than a few _days_, Ridi._**

**_Fury: What is :T? What's greater than T? _**

Keigo burst out laughing, tears running down his face. "Tsukauchi doesn't know…?!" He couldn't even finish his sentence as he cracked up again.

"Nope~" Izuku grinned.

"Thank you so much for adding me to this chat. I'm going to have _so much_ fun." He grinned.

"Anytime, my brother. Anytime." Izuku smirked as he watched Keigo immerse himself in the chat. Attention diversion was successful, and now he didn't have to explain the gunshot wound to his friend.

He leaned back against the shitty mattress, which was covered in clean new sheets bought by Keigo. He smiled contentedly as his eyelids drooped. _There's always tomorrow._

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Bro's fine, makin a full recovery. I haven't heard any news on Deku, yet, tho. _**

**_[Deku is online]_**

**_Deku: You summoned me?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: OMV YOU'RE ALIVE! YAY! WE'VE BEEN SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: My bro's been worried sick over you, Deku! You holdin' up okay?_**

**_[ManlyRiot has joined the chat]_**

**_ManlyRiot: Cult of Viridian? Really, GB?_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: BRO! Didn't know you'd make an account! :D _**

**_Deku: Hey, you doin' okay? I know the whole USJ thing was… hectic. _**

**_ManlyRiot: Hectic?! Bro, you kicked that villain's _ass_! I've never seen anything like it before! I'm just glad to know you're okay. I mean, you were hurt, like I could see the _bone in your shoulder_ kind of hurt. _**

**_Demonic-Gay-Microwave: Damn, didn't know it was _that_ bad!_**

**_Noiscardily: You should get some rest, Deku. If you were hurt that bad, then the hospital will probably take away your phone if they knew. _**

**_Deku: my bro sprung me from the hospital. I'm home free. B) _**

**_ManlyRiot: Is that a good idea? I heard you were in the ICU for a while…? You almost _died_, dude. _**

**_Deku: And now I'm not. I'm alive, awake, and nursing a pot of coffee. I'll be fine. My brother's here to make sure I don't do anything stupid, anyhow. :P _**

**_ManlyRiot: If you're sure. But get some rest. Thanks for poppin in to let us know you're okay. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: And thank you! For saving my brother's life. I… I wanna thank you in person, tho. I hope that's not weird. _**

**_Deku: It's fine. We'll find time to meet up or something, yeah? :) _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: Yeah! :D _**

**_[Deku has logged out]_**


	12. Chapter 12: Confusion and Lies

**_A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry I've been gone for two days. I feel super bad. :( But Tuesday I had work from 9AM-8PM, and Wednesday I drove down to Oceanside to visit my Nana and Mom (and set my mom up with Funimation so she could binge My hero without me, because I've gotten her hooked on it, too.). I got home yesterday and promptly felt like shit and went to bed at 6PM. That's right. Six in the evening, before the sun even set. And woke up at 10AM. I slept SIXTEEN hours, and still woke up tired. Oof. _**

**_Still feel kinda shitty, but I went ahead and finished up this chapter for you! I'm sorry to say that updates likely won't be daily, but I'll try my best. I've run out of pre-written chapters, so everything from this point on is posted as I write it._**

**_FANART~! _**

_**Please note that this chapter has been edited and reposted on July 12, 2020**_

* * *

Izuku sighed as he took a sip of his sake. He was pouring over a couple of cases he was working on as Viridian. Just because he got hurt, didn't mean he was going to completely stop working. He just couldn't go out on patrol yet, was all.

**_ViridianChaos: Hey, Masa. I think I've got something—I'm going to shoot you an encrypted e-mail with my findings._**

**_Fury: Ugh, just try to make the code solvable for me, would you? I don't want to have to go to Nezu again._**

**_ViridianChaos: That was such an EASY code, though! Fine. I'll send you the cheat sheet on a separate server. _**

**_Fury: Thank you. _**

"Hey, I brought you some…" Keigo stopped mid-sentence as he stared at the sake bottle. "How did you buy that? You're _fifteen_."

"I'm _physically_ fifteen. I'm _actually_ around forty-four." Izuku smirked as he went for another drink.

"Your physical body would appreciate a working liver." Keigo snatched the bottle before Izuku could drink any more. The vigilante pouted.

"Aww~ But I just started!"

"Too bad. Wait till you're of age, like everyone else in the country."

"I mean, technically—"

"Time travel doesn't count." Keigo crossed his arms.

"Time, you're like the mother I never had." Izuku chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair. He grimaced at the greasy feel. "I need a shower."

"All right—come on, then. Back to my place."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. You need a shower_ and_ you need your injuries looked at."

"Fine, fine." Izuku relented, grabbing his overnight bag. He was fairly used to staying over at Keigo's place, by this point.

"You know…" Keigo tilted his head. "You could totally move in with me? I mean, the teachers know that we're good friends, and—"

"No. Not only would that paint a _really_ big target on you and your agency, but it'd also call up questions about my home life I'd rather not answer." Izuku rejected immediately. "Besides… There's no guarantee I'd even be allowed to live with you, if they knew."

"I… I suppose that's true… What if I work out the paperwork on my end first?" Keigo brightened again.

"Kei…" Izuku groaned. Why couldn't he just drop it? Izuku _liked_ being alone. "I'm a grown adult of nearly half a century! I think I can live alone, yeah?"

"I mean, legally…" Keigo smirked as he held up the sake bottle. "You can't even _drink_, so…"

"I hate you."

"No you don't." He watched bemused as Izuku gathered his papers and stuffed it into his worn rescued duffle bag. "Oh, yeah. There's a new video of Viridian circling the web. It's super popular, too."

"Oh?" Izuku was only half-paying attention.

"Yeah. Remember when you told that kid you were Quirkless?"

Izuku dropped the book he'd picked up. "_What_?!"

Keigo handed him the phone. Turned out, that entire conversation had been recorded. And it went _viral_.

"The world knows you're Quirkless. Viridian the Quirkless Vigilante." Keigo chuckled.

"H-how is this funny?" Izuku stared at his friend in disbelief. "I mean, now that they know—"

"They'll underestimate you." Keigo finished, making Izuku pause. "They'll underestimate you since nobody's really seen how well you can fight. They'll think you're just really good at staying hidden. You're the most _elusive_ vigilante, not the most _combative_. The villains will get complacent. Maybe the League will even reach out an offer to you, believing you to be closer to them than a hero."

Izuku mulled over his friend's words. "If the League of Villains comes to _me_…"

"Then you can kill Shigaraki." Keigo nodded. "But you'd damn well better have me on standby for backup if shit goes south, you hear me?"

"Promise." Izuku grinned.

* * *

Izuku sighed as he walked down the street. He was staying at Keigo's for the moment, but the hero had some other shit to do—like _work_. Unfortunately, he was just as bad at adulting as Izuku was, so his fridge was practically empty, sans some ten-day-old chicken. Izuku was _not_ going to touch that.

So here he was grocery shopping with the money Keigo left him for this express purpose. He decided to swing by the mall for once, just to browse.

He was looking over some interesting books on coding when a massive explosion shook the building. People started screaming, and Izuku quickly found a bathroom to change into his Viridian outfit. (Call him paranoid, but he carried it everywhere with him specifically for circumstances like this).

He climbed up into the air shaft, ignoring the way his healing injuries protested. He was _fine_. It was just some broken ribs and a concussion. And a partially disintegrated shoulder.

Whatever, point being, he was _fine_, and he sure as hell wasn't going to sit by while the mall was _attacked_. He eyed the situation from the shaft he hid in.

Three visible villains. All male, wait… he _knew_ these guys. They had a criminal record. They were called the Crystal Thieves, because of the barrier Quirk of the youngest brother.

He could create a near-impenetrable barrier around a relatively small area. It wouldn't cover the whole mall, but it'd cover enough to trap a good number of people. Nobody in or out without his permission. Drawbacks included unable to move while active, and unable to lose concentration, lest the whole barrier come tumbling down.

Second brother had a mild fire-type Quirk. He could heat up his hands until they were as hot as molten lava, allowing him to burn through walls and safes with ease. Drawbacks include a rather long cool-down time, so he had to be careful of what he touched. Plus, only his hands and lower arms were fireproof, so if he accidentally hit himself, he could cause serious burns.

The eldest brother would be the biggest challenge, though. He had a psychic type Quirk. A rather strong form of telekinesis that he had excellent control over. He could lift multiple objects—or people—at once, but his weight limit directly translated to his muscle mass. He could probably lift a few hundred pounds, though. Drawbacks include headaches and nosebleeds if he overuses his Quirk, or surpasses the weight limit.

Viridian needed to get at the youngest, but the oldest brother would protect him. With a Quirk that could stop bullets or people mid-action, he was the ideal defender.

The vigilante pulled out his phone, making sure it was on silent.

**_ViridianChaos: Guys, we've got a situation. _**

**_Fury: If you mean the mall, we already know. Are you going to join us? _**

**_ViridianChaos: About that…_**

**_ShadowSlayer: You're already inside, aren't you? Knowing your luck, you were inside when the attack started. -_-_**

**_ViridianChaos: We have a winner! :D _**

**_Dadzawa: Be careful. It looks like the work of the Crystal Thieves. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Oh, it is. I've got a visual on them right now. Here's the plan. I'll find a way to take out the youngest brother—the one making the barrier—and you guys come in first chance you get to back me up. Sound good? _**

**_Fury: I really wish there was another way around this… aren't you still injured? _**

**_ShadowSlayer: He is. Worst of it's his arm and some busted ribs, though. Please be careful, Ri. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I'll be as careful as I can be. I'll survive, at the very least. I'm too stubborn to die. _**

**_Dadzawa: Don't we know it. Your strength is your stealth—use it to your advantage. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I love that you tell me how to do my thing, when I was able to outrun you for over a year. _**

**_Dadzawa: it was only six months or so. _**

**_ViridianChaos: You never caught me, so I'm still free. A year and counting~_**

He slipped his phone back into his pocket. He had to be careful. They'd rounded up the hostages, and coals for brains was looking pretty heated. Viridian didn't like the way he kept looking at the women, or the way his hands twitched when he looked at the men.

He didn't have much time to come up with a plan. He couldn't just drop down, because psychic-boy would shut him down pretty fast. But if he couldn't see what he was doing…?

Viridian grinned as he silently scampered off to prepare for his plan.

* * *

Kaminari Denki had been hanging out at the mall with his good friend, Jiro. After the attack on their class, he needed to go somewhere familiar to just… forget about his near-death experience. U.A. was providing free counseling (mandatory) for all 1 –A students, but that wouldn't start until school picked back up on Monday.

Honestly, he was all-for a four-day-weekend and all, but it wasn't worth getting attacked by villains. It'd been _terrifying_.

And yet, here he was again, being _attacked by villains_. Seriously, _why_?! The mall was supposed to be _safe_! He wanted to cry.

He played the good hostage along with Jiro, hoping that they'd all make it out okay. In situations like this, it was bad to attack, right? Because innocent people could be hurt? He didn't even know their Quirks! Where were the heroes and cops? Weren't they supposed to be here already?

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I'm a little lost. Does anyone know where the bookstore is?" A man asked. He wore a dark green—almost black jumpsuit (shirt and pants? He couldn't tell) and had a mask that only revealed his green eyes. A utility belt hung on his thin frame, and he held himself with a casual air.

Everyone turned to look at him, dumbfounded.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?!" The man with white hands asked, glaring at the newcomer.

"Oh, me? Nobody special." He shrugged. "Though do you think you could take down that barrier? It's making it a little difficult to leave, ya know?"

"I don't think you understand the situation, here." The one with purple hair glared. He'd been staying close to the third guy who'd been sitting still this whole time. "You're going to sit down with everyone else and be a good hostage. If you don't we'll start killing people."

"You know, as much as I'd _love_ to, I really can't. You see, I have this little rule about not working with villains. Trust me, you're not the first to try." He smirked as he threw something at the purple-haired man, but the little beads froze in mid-air.

"Huragushi Jikaru. Quirk, telepathy. You can control any objects or people and their placement in a three dimensional plane up to your physical weight limit—roughly 429 lbs. Arrested alongside your brothers two years ago, broke out of prison two weeks ago." The man grinned.

"Huragushi Kiroku. Quirk, Hot-hands. Not the most creative name, but you were, what, four and a half? Your hands can expel heat up to about 1,600˚F, making you essentially capable of melting just about anything. Only your hands are immune to heat."

He turned towards the last brother. "Huragushi Nanviru. Quirk, Crystal Barrier—hence your group name, Crystal Thieves. You can create a barrier of a certain radius that keeps people in or out, as you choose. Selective. Powerful. Such a shame you chose villainy, you could've made a _great_ hero." He sighed.

"Who the _fuck_?!" Kiroku took a step back, eyes wide.

"No, I know you…" Jikaru's eyes narrowed as he glared at the man. "You're that vigilante—Viridian!"

A murmur swept through the crowed. Even _Kaminari _knew who Viridian was. He was the not-quite a hero but still a hero vigilante that had taken the entire world by storm. First it was Japan, but after that video announcing his Quirkless status…

"Isn't Viridian Quirkless, though?" Kiroku huffed. "It's just a Quirkless freak, we can beat 'em!" He rushed towards the vigilante with a confident grin.

"No, you idiot!" Jiraku tried to stop his brother, but the other man swung at the vigilante.

Viridian _easily_ sidestepped the punch with a sort of grace Kaminari had never seen before. He grabbed the man by the elbow and pivoted so quickly that he almost didn't see it.

The larger man hit the floor with a resounding _boom_, hands causing the tile to sizzle and pop as it melted under the extreme heat.

Viridian quickly jumped back and dashed at the psychic, who held up his hand and levitated the vigilante.

He'd been caught. Kiroku got to his feet with a sore groan, glaring at the vigilante. "I was _going_ to tell you that Viridian has the record as Japan's most _wanted_ vigilante. You can't get that title on stealth alone. He's got to have _some_ kind of fighting prowess." He eyed the vigilante who looked far to calm for his current situation. "Though I must say I'm not impressed."

"Who said I was trying to defeat_ you_?" Viridian smirked. "_Boom_." He whispered, and a moment later, a loud **_BOOM_** sounded right from the forgotten third brother's seat.

The man jumped and toppled over with a startled yelp, allowing the barrier that kept heroes and police at bay to shatter. "NO!" Jiraku glared, lunging for the vigilante.

A gunshot stopped the villain's advance as the police rushed onto the scene. Kaminari recognized several heroes, including the number three hero, _Hawks_. The winged hero rushed right into the fight, taking out Kiroku with _ease_.

"Viridian, _how_ do you keep getting yourself into these messes?" Hawks asked, a teasing tone to his voice.

"I'm just that talented, Birdie." Viridian replied with an easy smirk. "Trouble just _loves_ me."

"Yes, well you're still _hurt_."

"I'll have you know, I've been treated at an _actual_ hospital this time. So _there_." The vigilante seemed to stick out his tongue at the _number three hero_. Wow, that guy had _guts_.

"Viridian, how much extra paperwork did you cause me?" A detective groaned as police apprehended the criminals.

"Come on, Masa. I only borrowed some supplies from a _few_ stores."

"You stole?"

"To make a makeshift bomb! I had to distract them _somehow_."

Kaminari stared. He'd _planned_ that?! All of that?

"You're giving us grey hairs." Hawks groaned.

"You know, I _did_ originally come here to look at books. Plus I still need to pick up some groceries, so I'm going to head out, now." Viridian waived a hand over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Just e-mail me your statement." The detective sighed.

"Will do, Masa~"

* * *

Izuku wasn't ready. He stood before the door of Class 1–A. It was the first day back at school, and he was wondering how his classmates had taken everything. After all, the last time he'd seen them, he was being carted off to the hospital in critical condition after going toe-to-toe with a monster and villain that had incapacitated their sensei.

Yeah, he was going to have a _lot_ of bullshitting to do.

With a deep breath, he opened the door to the classroom. At once, the students became silent as they looked at him. He supposed he was a bit of a sight for sore eyes—he sported a new scar on his left cheek that looked like he pissed off the wrong dude armed with a switchblade, and his arm was still in a sling from his shoulder being partially disintegrated. Well, that, and he'd apparently stressed his shoulder with the Mall Incident, but that wasn't his fault! And he _had_ to take that sling off to fight as Viridian!

"Yo! Midoriya! You're alive!" Kirishima grinned as he jumped to his feet and ran over to meet him.

"I mean, I already told you I was alive via the chat, but…" Izuku smiled at Kirishima. He was also glad to see Kaminari and Jiro were okay. He'd been worried because of the whole mall thing.

"Glad to see you're up and about, kero. You scared us." Tsu flashed him a grin.

"The _fuck_, Deku?!" Bakugo glared, getting to his feet. "This is why you _never_ should've become a hero! You can't do _shit_! Look at you! You're the only one of us that got hurt!" He ignored Kirishima's attempt to calm him down and shrugged off Kaminari's hand; his eyes were set on Izuku, whose face had become cool and detached.

"That's because I fought the ringleader. Sensei got hurt, too." He pointed out.

"Yeah, but he took on _dozens_ of villains alone. That's different. At least he's got a Quir—"

"Bakugo, you will report to Nezu's office after school for detention. We do _not_ tolerate bullying or Quirk discrimination at U.A., do I make myself _clear_?" Aizawa-sensei glared at the startled blonde as he came into the classroom. His mummified hand gently rested on Izuku's shoulder for the briefest of moments, and the greenette instantly recognized it as a form of comfort from the antisocial man.

"Thank you, Sensei." Izuku quietly muttered to his teacher, who nodded gruffly.

"Now everyone get to your seats, we've got homeroom."

Everyone scrambled to take their seats, and Izuku reluctantly sat behind the fuming blond. Part of him was pleased—he'd never (in any timeline) seen Bakugo get reprimanded for bullying or Quirk discrimination before. It was satisfying and honestly soothed a part of Izuku that was still bitter over everything that the boy had said and done to him.

He'd never forgotten when Bakugo told him to kill himself.

"Right. First off, everyone will attend _mandatory_ counseling with Hound Dog every week. Your personalized schedules will be e-mailed to you tonight and effective immediately. This is not a setback. Do not feel discouraged at the nightmares or trauma—every pro gets it. We've all got some form of PTSD; it comes with the job. Most just don't get it so soon. If you need anything, you can come to any staff member." His eyes lingered on Izuku for a moment before he continued.

"That aside, we've another matter to turn our gaze towards. The Sports Festival is coming, and you all need to prepare. There is no opting out—this is your best chance to catch the eye of the public and the pros. Internships will take place after the festival, so this is your chance to shine. Plus Ultra, or you might just end up losing your spot to someone in General Education." He warned.

"Oh yeah!" Kaminari spoke up. "I remember hearing about that! Sometimes kids from other courses can be moved into the Hero Course if they do well enough!"

"Yeah, and if Hero Course kids suck enough, they can be moved _out_, too." Jiro reminded him.

"I'm not done, yet." Aizawa-sensei glared, activating his Quirk for the briefest of moments, silencing the students instantly.

_Damn. That's a great intimidation tactic. _Izuku idly noted.

"Due to this, your Introductory Course to Heroics will be mostly self-study. If you want to use any school facilities after hours, or on the weekends, please come to me. _Now_ I'm done." He promptly curled up in his sleeping bag and drifted off to sleep.

The class, now sufficiently distracted with the prospect of the festival, forgot to interrogate Izuku about the USJ Incident—which he was totally fine with.

Before leaving, Aizawa placed a note on Izuku's desk. He curiously unfolded it.

_Meet me in the classroom during lunch (that doesn't mean don't eat!). We need to talk._

_Well, shit._ Izuku grimaced. He was going to have a tough time with this one. He was lost in thought, and was the first out of the room. He barely registered the group of students that crowded the 1–A classroom moments later.

Classes seemed to simultaneously drag by, and rush past. Much to Izuku's dismay, it seemed some of his classmates had let slip his Quirkless status to the rest of the student body (they likely didn't know it was something he'd rather keep secret). A majority of them—particularly the General Education kids—were _pissed._ Nobody was stupid enough to really do anything drastic, but he knew those glares. Heard the whispers. He knew the notes would start soon, too.

His injuries from USJ didn't help, either. They made him look weak to them, because only he, the Quirkless Heroics student, got hurt. But he ignored the jeers and glares with a practiced ease. It was something he'd had to deal with his entire life.

Even when he went to trade school, or when he was an adult with a good job, it was a thing he'd learned to expect. He was smart enough the first go around that the teachers didn't bully him, but his Quirkless status kept him from receiving their protection. And as long as he'd done his work, his bosses hadn't really cared one way or the other. The only time someone had been reprimanded was when they'd hurt Izuku badly enough that it impeded his job performance.

In all honesty, Aizawa was the _first_ teacher he'd ever had—hell, the first _person—_that had spoken up against someone to defend him, and it made him feel good. He knew Yamada would probably speak up… maybe Midnight… But he wasn't sure about any of the other teachers. Pro heroes or not, that didn't mean that they'd put a stop to it when he was Quirkless—he'd known plenty of Pros during the First Run (how he'd decided to refer to the original timeline) that had promptly ignored him and his injuries or his need to be helped during villain attacks once they realized he didn't have a Quirk. Izuku held little hope that many of these pros would be better.

He really should've expected someone to shove him down those stairs as lunch started, but he thought that maybe these kids would wait a little longer, what with all the pros crawling around. He would've been fine, if his arm hadn't been in a sling. But the restricting fabric kept him from catching himself, so he ended up eating shit face first into the tile at the bottom of the stairs. He heard several people chuckling, but he couldn't tell who pushed him. The lingering students scattered fairly quickly, pretending not to see anything.

With a sigh, Izuku pushed himself up and gathered his things. "Real mature." He muttered under his breath as he awkwardly hoisted his bag up over his uninjured shoulder again. He was a little surprised that nobody bothered to try to destroy his stuff or steal his backpack while it was unguarded, but he supposed that they'd pushed their luck enough doing this much in a school filled with heroes.

He made his way into the bathroom to assess the damage. He had a split lip, and a darkening bruise on the left side of his face. He must've cut his eyebrow on the edge of the stairs, because that was bleeding bit, too. Nothing broken, thank Time. He washed off the dirt and fished out his portable first-aid kit.

As a vigilante and a Quirkless guy, he'd learned early on to carry around any medical supplies he could.

He checked his phone and huffed. He would be a little late to his meeting with Aizawa. "Oh well. Sensei will have to learn to deal with it. He _did_ tell me to eat, after all. I wonder if eating shit down the stairs counts?" He idly wondered aloud as he made his way to the classroom.

"Midoriya, thank you for comi—" Aizawa stopped when he saw Izuku's face. "What happened?"

"Fell down the stairs." He answered swiftly.

"That's the oldest excuse in the book." Aizawa sent him a mild glare as Izuku closed the doors.

"Doesn't mean it's any less true."

"Did you _fall_ down the stairs, or did someone _make_ you fall?"

"I mean, I'm pretty sure someone pushed me, but I didn't see who." Izuku shrugged. No sense in lying to him more than he had to. "It doesn't matter anyways."

Aizawa looked like he _really_ wanted to pinch the bridge of his nose. "It _does_ matter. That's _bullying_."

"And it's nothing I'm not used to. Honestly, I'm surprised nobody's left me…" Izuku's eyes fell upon his desk, where he saw something barely poking out. Aizawa must've left the room to grab himself food, because that had _not_ been there when he left. "Oh, never mind."

Aizawa choked on his coffee when Izuku casually pulled out a red spider lily with a note attached that read _'Do us all a favor, Quirkless.'_

Izuku admired the neat flowing handwriting for a moment. "Tch. They didn't even get the good kind of lily, they went with the cheap flower shop across town." He shook his head as he offhandedly went to toss it in the trash.

"God, I'm going to go grey." Aizawa muttered under his breath. "That is _not_ okay. Hand it here, and we'll figure out who sent it to you. They will be_ expelled_. And Blacklisted."

Izuku blinked at him dumbly for a moment as he handed the lily and note over to his teacher.

"What's with that look?"

"I've gotten hundreds of these before, and no teacher has _ever_ bothered to do _anything_. I actually think one of them provided the vase for a bouquet of them, once. I still have it. It's a pretty vase."

Aizawa clenched his teeth and grumbled something that sounded like a long string of curse words under his breath. "We aren't like your other teachers. This is _not_ okay, Midoriya." Aizawa reminded him. "You have _earned_ your spot in U.A., don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Sorry, Sensei, I'm just used to this. It's normal for me. Both in and out of school. People don't look at a Quirkless person the same way they do everyone else. I'm lucky to be considered human half the time." Izuku decided to change the topic before it got _too_ personal. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Firstly, I want you to _promise_ me that you'll bring any other notes, threats, and 'gifts' to a staff member—preferably me—if you get any more. And that you'll inform a staff member of _any_ bullying."

Izuku blinked. Sure, he knew Shouta hated bullying, but he hadn't expected him to be _this_ up in arms about it. "S-sure. I promise." If it got the staff off his back, then he'd listen. _I'm deceiving them enough already… I should just play along and let them know. Who knows? Maybe the bullying will get better before it gets worse?_

_Well… either that or they'll retaliate outside of school grounds, but if they do that, then I can kick their butts. And sic Keigo on 'em._ Izuku mentally grinned at that plan.

"Secondly. I know you withheld information when you were talking to Tsukauchi about the USJ." Aizawa continued, and Izuku stiffened. "You knew what that Nomu was before anyone had even _seen_ it. You mentioned it during that flashback during the Battle Trials."

"Shit." Izuku cursed under his breath.

"Listen to me, Midoriya. I need you to answer honestly." His voice became serious, and Izuku found himself mirroring his expression. "Are you, in any way shape or form, being held hostage or blackmailed by villains?"

_They think I'm the spy, and they're hoping it's unwilling. _For a moment, he considered playing on that route. It'd be a far easier thing to believe than the truth.

"No, sensei." Izuku looked him dead in the eye. "I'm not the traitor. I'm not your leak." Aizawa blinked in surprise for a moment. He probably hadn't expected Izuku to piece it together that fast. "But you're right—I did already know about the Nomu… because I've encountered them before. That's why I knew how to kill it so quickly. Compared to the ones I've seen…"

_It was thin and gangly, with a long whip-like tail for balance. The eyes were milky and sightless, and its elongated maw was lined with sharp teeth already stained red. Long arms ended in claws and its legs bent backwards, giving it more power to jump and sprint. It was short, in comparison to the rest of them—only about six feet tall—but it seemed to be covered in a layer of hard scales. Unlike the others, who had an exposed brain from the top, this Nomu's brain was only accessible from behind. And its most striking feature was that it was entirely white. _

_Izuku was frozen in fear. The Nomu was sniffing the air, and getting dangerously close to his hiding spot in the alleyway. He tried to calm his racing heart and quiet his breaths, but the fear made it neigh impossible. He was crouched behind an old, overturned dumpster. _

_The snout of the Nomu peeked around the edge of his hiding spot, and he felt his blood turn to ice. There was a ringing in his ears and his eyes blurred with tears. He could smell the Nomu's putrid breath, and he was close enough now to see the bits of flesh and bone stuck between its razor sharp teeth. It was close enough for him to reach out and touch, and he knew in that moment, he was going to die. Its sightless white eye seemed to bore into his soul. _

_He would never see Hizashi, Nemuri or Shouta again. He'd never get the chance to say goodbye to Dabi or Tamaki. He'd never—_

_Izuku caught sight of movement in the alleyway across from him. A man he'd never seen before stood there—terrified. He was taking advantage of the Nomu's interest in Izuku, and had made a break for it. The man shot off with such speed that Izuku knew it was a Quirk—perhaps the only reason he'd made it this far. _

_But the sound of his feet scraping on the gravel drew the attention of the White Nomu, and it whipped around, away from Izuku. _

_Izuku stayed frozen as he watched with horror as the White beast moved with unbelievable speed. It caught up to the speed-Quirked man within seconds, and the man's anguished scream was cut off halfway, when his head was bitten in two._

_He let several tears run down his face and knew that that man's stupidity was the only reason he was even still alive._

"Compared to what I've seen, that Nomu was incredibly tame." Izuku shuddered, hard. He looked back up—when had he looked away?

"Compared to what you've…? Midoriya, where have you seen these Nomu before? How many are there?"

"I…" He faltered for a moment. He'd already called him Problem Child. Was there a reason not to tell him? Why was he so scared? _Because even if he knows, he's not **your** Shouta._ His mind reminded him._ And he never will be_.

"There are things I need to explain to you." Izuku finally decided, a hard steel to his voice that made Aizawa flinch back in surprise. "To you… and Nezu… and probably Hizashi, too."

"And you can't tell me now, because…?"

"I really don't want to explain it more than once. Please… Right now, I just need you to trust me."

"All right." Aizawa relented.

"Um… Is… is it okay if I explain _after_ the Sports Festival?"

His teacher blinked in surprise. "Is there any particular reason why?"

"I… I need some time to figure out _how_ I'm going to explain everything. It's… erm… a bit of a wild tale, to say the least. No offense, sir, but I wouldn't believe myself if I hadn't lived through it."

Aizawa sighed, nearly whacking himself in the face with his cast when he went to pinch the bridge of his nose on reflex. Izuku held back a snort to help save his blushing teacher some dignity. "All right. I'll set up the appointment with Nezu."

"Thank you, Aizawa-sensei!" Izuku smiled.

"Also." His tone became even more serious, if Izuku thought it was possible. "What you did at USJ was stupid and irresponsible. You recklessly put your life in danger, and that is not how a hero acts." Izuku went to protest, but was cut off by a Quirk-enhanced glare. "_However_." Aizawa continued. "Your reckless behavior also saved my life." He then _bowed_ to Izuku for a moment before straightening up. "Thank you, Midoriya Izuku. Though I'd rather you hadn't put yourself in harm's way, under the circumstances, I can understand it. And thanks to you, I'm able to reprimand you for being an idiot." He then averted his gaze and flushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry for taking up your lunch period like this."

Izuku stared for a moment before he felt a giant grin spread on his face. He couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so brightly. "I'm just glad you're okay, sensei." He then, against his better judgment, hugged Aizawa. The man stiffened for a moment before ultimately allowing it and reciprocating as much as he could. "You just wanted to make sure I was safe. Nothing wrong with that." Izuku then pulled away. "I'm going to go get ready for class."

"Please tell me you ate something _other than_ the staircase?"

"Erm…"

"Goddamnit, Problem Child."

Izuku laughed.

* * *

Aizawa Shouta was a lot of things right now. He was in pain, he was tired, he was annoyed, but most of all, he was concerned for Midoriya Izuku—someone he'd recently taken to calling Problem Child. And his Problem Child was a Rubik's Cube of mysteries.

During the USJ Incident, as the staff had taken to calling it, he'd thought the name 'Nomu' sounded familiar, but in the chaos of everything, he hadn't been able to place it.

He remembered watching in transfixed horror as Midoriya had fought against the monster, and he was sure he'd soon witness his student's untimely death. He'd tried to stagger to his feet, but his broken body just _would not listen_ to him.

And then Midoriya had somehow managed to _kill_ it. Shouta had no idea how the kid had been able to move fast enough to get behind it… he'd had no clue how his student had even survived being thrown into the nearby fountain; but he was glad he managed it.

Oh, and how Shouta wanted to reprimand the brat for purposefully taunting the villain, Shigaraki (the same Shigaraki Tomura that Viridian was after). The utter relief he'd felt upon realizing that backup had arrived nearly had him passing out.

He'd vaguely recognized his husband's voice, and turned to glare at him for keeping him awake. At the time, he hadn't fully registered his concussion, and just wanted to sleep.

Later, at the hospital, _Hawks_ of all people burst in the door. Shouta had been completely floored, seeing the normally laid back and aloof hero so… frantic. He was genuinely concerned for this kid in his class that he should have no way of knowing.

Shouta didn't fully buy the villain incident. Sure, Tsukauchi didn't detect a lie, but Shouta had made sure to thoroughly check the background of all of his students. Midoriya had no recent hospital visits or trauma reports (a requirement after being attacked by any villain). So they were either lying (or as close as they could get without setting off Tsukauchi's Lie Detector), or Hawks had failed to follow protocol for some reason.

But Shouta's research brought up something else. Midoriya hadn't been to a hospital since he was _four_. Since he was pronounced Quirkless. That set off _several_ alarm bells for the hero, who quickly shared his findings with Nezu and Tsukauchi (the latter so he could look into things on his end). Maybe the kid was abused?

But he'd told Tsukauchi he was safe at home. Was home perhaps with someone else? The streets?! (God, he hoped not).

It wasn't until after he'd been released from the hospital that Shouta recalled where he'd heard the name 'Nomu' before—during Midoriya's flashback during All Might's first class. He'd mentioned hearing 'Nomu' around them, which meant that he'd encountered them before. Which also meant that there was more than one.

He'd taken this information to Nezu immediately, and the principal had confessed his suspicions of Midoriya being their leak. The thought made Shouta simultaneously angry and heartbroken. He'd been growing attached to this brat, whether he wanted to admit it or not. The fact that he was likely a traitor…

"Ah, but hold on, Aizawa." Nezu had said, stopping him from leaving. "There's more to my theory."

"Oh?" A ray of hope.

"I think that, if he _is_ the traitor, he's being held captive by this League of Villains. I'm a fair judge of character, and I don't think he wants to hurt any of us. I truly believe that if he is the traitor, it's against his will."

After Nezu had told him that, he felt his heart lighten a bit, even if the thought of Midoriya in the hands of villains made him cringe.

That was why he asked him to meet him during his lunch break. Asking him to stay after school would raise suspicions, if their hunch was correct.

And damn, had that conversation taken a _lot_ of energy from Shouta. By the end of it, he felt as emotionally drained and battered as his body. Which was saying something considering he was currently living on Skull Crusher coffee mixed with energy drinks and caffeine powder. If Recovery Girl found out, he'd be skinned.

He re-entered the staff room to find only Hizashi and Nemuri there. _Thank god._

"Shou? Are you okay? You look like shit." Hizashi's eyes shone in concern.

"God, I want to kill somebody, but I don't have the energy to do it." He moaned, burying his face in his husband's shoulder.

"Okay, what's up?" Hizashi's tone was uncharacteristically serious.

"Midoriya's getting bullied. Badly. Kid walked into our meeting with a beat up face because someone shoved him down the stairs."

"What?!" Nemuri and Hizashi cried at the same time.

"And don't get me started on the _note_." Shouta growled just _thinking _about how casually Midoriya had tried to throw away that lily. "Someone left an actual _death threat_ in his desk, and the kid was so _used to it_ that his first reaction was to criticize where they got their _supplies_ from before attempting to throw it away!" Shouta's voice was rising, now, but he didn't really care. He pulled away from Hizashi as he angrily paced, instead. "And when I actually intervened and told him that the person responsible would be expelled, he looked at me like I'd grown a second head before explaining that his previous teachers had ignored or _encouraged_ such behavior! _ENCOURAGED!_" If his hands weren't casted, Shouta would be pulling at his hair, right now. "He says it's _normal_ for him! That he's lucky for people to look at him as a _human being_!" He stopped, suddenly out of breath and even more exhausted than before.

Hizashi cautiously approached him. It wasn't often that Shouta lost his cool, but when he did, it was typically explosive. Nemuri stared at him with wide eyes, having only seen him like this a handful of times.

"It's all right, Shou. We'll bring it up at the teacher's meeting today, and figure out who sent it." He helped Shouta sit back down on the couch. "We'll help the Little Listener."

"Someone's attached." Nemuri smirked. Shouta would've normally denied it, but that would require energy he no longer had. So he opted for glaring at his friend instead.

"You look _beyond_ exhausted, Shou." Hizashi helped him climb into his yellow sleeping bag. "Take a nap. I'll wake you later."

He sent his husband a mild glare, but he was never one to pass up a nap. And he must've really looked bad if he was actually _encouraging_ Shouta's shitty sleeping habits for once. He halfheartedly muttered some sort of semblance of goodnight before he slipped into his nightmares again.

* * *

Nezu was many things. He was a creature of unknown genetic makeup. He was incredibly intelligent—more so than most humans. He was the maker of a million plans. But lately, he'd found himself encountering something entirely new to him.

Nezu was _confused_.

And it all came back to one Midoriya Izuku—first Quirkless student of U.A. The kid was the biggest and most convoluted puzzle Nezu had ever had the pleasure of coming across. The more he tried to figure out about the boy, the more mismatched pieces he found.

It was like trying to solve a two-sided puzzle but only half the pieces were colored in. And just when he thought he'd finally solved it, the image was wrong, and he realized it was a _three_-sided puzzle.

Nezu wasn't used to headaches, either.

He sat down in his chair in the Staff Meeting room. Aizawa had wanted to report a case of severe bullying in the school, and such cases were taken with the utmost seriousness.

"All right, Aizawa. What's the situation?" Power Loader asked, concern lacing his voice. Bullying wasn't a common occurrence in U.A. at all, mostly because of how harshly they punished such actions. That, and many weren't stupid enough to carry out such actions in a _hero_ school.

"Midoriya Izuku." Aizawa started, and Nezu fought the urge to smash his skull into the table.

"As you know, he's Quirkless." Aizawa continued, and several of the staff nodded grimly, seeing where this was going. "It appears that the rest of the school has found out, too. I had a meeting with the kid at lunch today, and he walked into the classroom with half his face black and blue. Someone pushed him down the stairs, but he claimed he never saw who it was."

"He came and saw me after school." Recovery Girl spoke up. "I have some pictures of the damage done." She passed around some photos of the student's bruised face. Nezu would definitely be going over the security footage tonight.

"There's more." Aizawa continued, and the staff looked over in disbelief.

"It gets _worse_ than shoving the kid down the stairs?!" Cementoss choked out.

For a moment, Aizawa's eyes flashed red with anger, and Nezu knew he wasn't going to like this.

"He found _this_ in his desk. He's apparently so used to it, that he just throws them away. He says this is the first one he's found at U.A." He then proceeded to pull out a red spider lily. Several of the staff gasped in shock. "There was also this note. If you recognize the handwriting, please tell me."

If Nezu was angry before, he was _furious_, now. As confusing as Midoriya was, he was still a person who interested him. It was rare for Nezu to find people that could hold intellectual conversations with him in the way Midoriya could, and the fact that Nezu couldn't figure him out only made him that much more intriguing.

To put it simply, Midoriya was _Nezu's_ puzzle. And nobody hurt what belonged to _Nezu_.

"I've gone ahead and had him promise to tell one of us if something occurs again. He's told me that his previous school _encouraged_ the bullying, and even mentioned a teacher providing a vase for the lilies. We need to show him that teachers _can_ be trusted."

"Oh, boy." Vlad rubbed his temples.

"On another note…" Aizawa looked at Nezu, who nodded.

"You asked him, then?"

"He said he wasn't our leak. He told me he knew what the Nomu were because he's encountered them before. He had another brief flashback that leads me to believe that he's telling the truth."

"So we're back to square one." Nezu sighed.

"Wait, you mean you thought the Little Listener was the traitor?"

"We thought he might be an unwilling accomplice of the villains—possibly blackmailed or held captive." Aizawa sighed.

"But it appears that my hunch was wrong." Nezu chimed in, and several staff members blinked at him in shock. "He's truly an interesting puzzle. I've never had someone quite as perplexing as him before." His mind flashed to the rings he'd handed back to the child. They were undoubtedly the wedding bands of Yamada Hizashi and Aizawa Shouta, but he knew for a fact that both teachers were wearing said rings around their necks right now.

The custom bands were nearly impossible to replicate by professional means, let alone for a child who's never seen them before. The engravings inside the bands were on point, too.

This only made him even_ more_ confused. He didn't like the feeling.

"I don't believe that Midoriya Izuku is a danger to us or U.A." Nezu finally said, and several staff members relaxed. "If anything, I think he's trying to help us somehow. I went back over the footage from the USJ Cameras, and managed to salvage some of the audio. From what I've gathered, Midoriya did everything in his power to protect the other students _and_ his teachers. The villain Shigaraki Tomura did not seem to recognize Midoriya at all, even though Midoriya seemed to recognize him on sight."

"I'm getting confused." Midnight sighed. Several other staff members muttered to their neighbors as well.

"In short, I believe Midoriya is not a danger to us or the school. If anything, he's trying to help us. He's someone we need to protect." Nezu said, earning nods from his staff.

The Principal decided that it was time for tea, and quickly made himself a pot. He sat back down in his chair, as he pulled out a bottle of rum. He then added rum, a bit of honey, and a spritz of lemon to his cup before pouring the tea over top. He took a nice long sip, and relaxed into his chair.

"Uh… P-Principal Nezu?" Toshinori asked, eyeing the alcohol warily. "A-are you okay?" The room had gone quiet.

"Midoriya Izuku is quite confusing," Nezu started, "and I find rum helps rid me of headaches."

The staff stared. "You're… _confused_?" Higari choked.

"Yes. Yes I am."

And if he smiled behind his teacup as the staff collectively lost it, well… at least he was entertained, now. He could think about Midoriya tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13: Stirring the Pot

_**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm still alive (I think). Had to self-quarantine for about a week due to a mild fever and a cough, but I've been okayed to work again (even though I still feel exhausted). I start work again tomorrow, so I wanted to get this out before then. It's a bit of a filler chapter, but some important things come about, so it is necessary. Next chapter or two will show us the Sports Festival Arc (arguably one of my least favorite arcs in the anime, but whatever.) I'm personally looking forward to Stain. ^^**_

_**I hope you're all safe and healthy. Please try to keep yourselves in good shape, yeah? (Like I'm one to talk. Oof) **_

_**If you haven't yet checked it out, I did a bnha oneshot called Monochrome Rain. It's sad but it's also got a lot of Erasermic, which is my OTP.**_

_**Any fanart you want featured should be sent to aizawa along with a name you'd like me to use in the shoutout. **_

_**Thank you For all the amazing fanart! [I'm trying links, idk if it'll work or not.]**_

_**Kaelan gave us this amazing image: . **_

_**And Kaelan also gave us this: . **_

_**If you've sent me Fanart for Viridian, and I haven't put the art up yet, I may have simply lost your e-mail in my folder. Please re-send it with 'fanart' in the title Reminder that the address is aizawa , not Gmail or mail (I may have typoed that in the past. I apologize. I'm a scatterbrain). We have a Telegram chat group, too. PM me on the app if you'd like to join. It's chaotic and a great way to kill time during quarantine. **_

* * *

Tsukauchi Naomasa was tired and overworked. It wasn't a pretty combo, but it was something he was used to. And the USJ case was a top priority right now. It had a _ton_ of media attention and a lot of angry parents waiting behind the proverbial red tape. He shuddered to think of how Eraserhead was going to deal with _that_. He supposed his friend's main saving grace was the fact that he'd been grievously injured protecting said children, so the parents would hopefully go easy on the teacher (even if they didn't go easy on the school itself).

So, Naomasa had done the logical thing—he'd called in Viridian to help. The man had become their ace in the hole. He was a literal godsend. Not only was his information reliable, accurate and extensive, but the man himself was excellent at problem solving and a knack for seeing the details that the heroes and police had missed. If Viridian ever decided to become a detective instead of a hero, Naomasa would honestly hand in his badge. This man was _far_ more capable.

He was privately glad the vigilante wanted to be a hero instead. He liked his job.

Eraserhead showed up first. "Hey, how're you holding up?" He asked the hero. The man was still practically a mummy, and he idly wondered if he was even supposed to be out of bed. _He and Viridian have a lot in common._

"Actually, rather well." Eraser admitted. "I expected a lot of angry parents, but there were really only one or two. Some even sent me get well soon and thank you cards. Hagakure's parents sent me flowers."

"Huh. That's a nice surprise." Naomasa wasn't expecting that.

"Another student's parents came to thank me in person. Apparently word got out to the parents that I'd nearly died while trying to protect their kids, so that's probably got a lot to do with it. Though I didn't hear anything from Midoriya's parents." His brows furrowed.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?"

"He lacks a medical record after he was diagnosed Quirkless, and he's completely okay with being bullied. He's underweight, and has more scars than most pros. He fights like it's second nature, and doesn't hesitate to kill when defending his classmates. What am I supposed to think? His parents never even came while he was in the hospital despite us trying to notify them, and the number we had on file turned out to be the private number of pro hero _Hawks_."

"When you put it that way…" Naomasa had to admit it was worrying. A student with prior trauma that he refused to elaborate on… He had some sort of connection to the Nomu—thus the League—but was not the alleged traitor. He nearly killed himself trying to protect his classmates and teacher, so they could safely assume he was on their side, but the amount of secrets this kid kept was worrying. It sounded like abuse or abandonment. "Maybe he's living on the streets? Abandoned by his parents when he was diagnosed Quirkless? It's happened before."

"I know." Eraserhead rubbed his face with his cast. "It would certainly explain a lot. I still feel like we're missing something, though. A lot of somethings. If he was homeless, then why would Hawks say that he occasionally stays at Midoriya's place? I doubt the number 3 hero would condone a _child_ living on the streets."

"Right… I keep forgetting about Hawks." Naomasa felt a headache flaring up. "We'll talk a bit more about this later. Maybe Viridian can shed some insight."

"Right." Eraserhead glanced at the clock. "I'll go get him. He should be here soon."

* * *

Viridian stretched his arms over his head as he walked down the street. It wasn't often that he was out and about in daytime hours, but Tsukauchi had asked him to come in for whatever reason, so he figured there was no harm. It was Saturday, after all, so no school. Keigo was kicking it back at the camper, trying to help Izuku brainstorm ways to explain his unique situation to the U.A. staff (because he figured that after he explained himself to Nezu, Shouta, and Hizashi, he'd probably end up having to explain himself to the rest of the staff as well).

He'd had to laugh when Keigo had mentioned a girl he knew that had a memory-viewing Quirk. They'd keep that as their last desperate option, because Izuku was neither keen on reliving everything, nor did he want to traumatize his teachers. He wanted them to _believe_ him, not give them nightmares.

Some guy on the street stopped to stare at him with an awed expression. "You're the Shadow Hero: Viridian!" He cried out, and said vigilante stopped in shock.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Did someone seriously just _recognize_ him? He'd never get used to that.

"Yeah, he's right! That's Viridian!"

"Can I have your autograph?!"

"How do you do it Quirkless?!"

"You're a true inspiration to all of us who don't have combative Quirks!"

"Hey, fucking loser! You're just a wannabe!"

Okay, that last one was much more familiar than everything else. "I feel like I should clarify something." Viridian scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm technically not a licensed hero. I just help out whenever the police need me. I'm technically a vigilante." The crowd was starting to make him uncomfortable.

"But you have to have a Quirk to be a vigilante." A woman said, walking up towards him. She was very beautiful, and if Izuku swung that way, he might even be flustered. "And you, sir, have no Quirk. So you _aren't_ a vigilante. That means you're a hero." She leaned in further, showing off some rather impressive assets. It was only then that he realized that she held a recording device. "Nakamura Nira with the MC News. Mind giving me a statement?"

"Uh…" He didn't know how to respond. This kind of situation was _not_ his forte. At all. "Sorry, I really don't have the time…"

"There you are, Viridian! You're late." Officer Sansa to the rescue! Viridian felt like crying in relief. He'd rather face a Black Nomu blindfolded than a reporter. He quickly jumped backwards, flipping so his feet hit the side of the building behind him, and sprung over the crowed that had gathered. He then wasted no time in sprinting the rest of the way to the station, Sansa watching in amusement the whole time (little bastard).

"Bout time you got here." Eraserhead raised an eyebrow as Viridian caught his breath.

"I _hate_ crowds. I don't know how Limelight heroes do it!" He ignored the way the underground hero chuckled at his expense, instead opting to glare.

He fished out his phone when it buzzed.

**_ShadowSlayer: Dude! You're on the news! Did u really have to springboard off the building?_**

**_ViridianChaos: Yes. Yes I did. U know I hate crowds. _**

**_ShadowSlayer: And yet ur typically so good with people. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Don't lie—it's unbecoming. We both know my people skills r shit._**

He locked his phone and dropped it back in his pocket (Masa and Eraser had made him upgrade to a hero-grade smartphone, which he'd promptly disassembled and reassembled without tracers). "So, know why Masa wants to see me?"

"We'll explain in the office."

"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Viridian tilted his head.

Eraserhead snorted. "As if we could actually catch you if you were."

"I mean, it didn't work the first time." He smirked.

"You really have no idea, do you?" Shouta looked incredibly amused.

"No idea about what?" Now he was _lost_. What the hell was Shouta getting at?

"You are one of the most powerful people in Japan, Viridian."

Said vigilante choked. He would've laughed but he knew that Shouta wouldn't joke about something like that. "W-what?! _Me_?! How?! Wh?! That's _illogical_!" He spluttered, flustered. Eraserhead gave him an amused smirk.

"You are so elusive that we had to make a _partnership_ with you in order to actually speak to you face-to-face. You're listed in our database as the #3 Vigilante _in. The. World."_ Okay, _that _was news. "And Number one in Japan. The fact that you're Quirkless—now globally known—means that you're damn near legally untouchable, and everyone knows it. You're the first unlicensed legal hero. The police made this deal on _your_ terms, Viridian. If we wanted to catch you, you would just slip away again. And if we somehow _did_ manage to catch you, the public would riot until you were freed. People are already starting campaigns to get you a license." He looked a shell shocked Viridian in the eye. "You really didn't know?"

Keigo would be rolling on the ground right now. "I don't exactly Google myself, you know." He hadn't searched up his vigilante name in _months_. He'd been a little busy preparing for U.A. and the like.

"Well, with your extensive information network, I thought you would've kept tabs on how the public saw you."

"As if I care how the public sees me." He shuddered as he remembered the crowd. "Though maybe I _should_."

"Glad you could make it." Tsukauchi grinned, beckoning them into the room. "Take a seat."

The two sat down. "So… new case?" Viridian ventured, now glad to be back on a familiar topic.

"Sort of; it's new to you. The USJ Incident." Both hero and vigilante stiffened. "When you first proposed our partnership, Viridian, you asked us to keep a lookout for Shigaraki Tomura. Well, we found him." Tsukauchi slapped a file down on the desk before the vigilante, who curiously picked it up. It was the file on USJ alongside photos and statements—including his own. "He headed the attack on U.A., and since you're after him, I figured you'd like to be brought onto the case."

"I'd very much like that." Viridian grinned. "So tell me, Masa." He laced his fingers together under his chin as he leaned forward. "What've you got on Shiggy?"

* * *

It was three hours later that Viridian decided he _hated_ police investigations. They were tedious and time consuming. Sure, he'd worked on plenty of cases with Masa and Shouta before, but this was a case his civilian persona was involved in.

"Maybe it's time for a shift in subjects." Eraserhead finally said, and Viridian sighed in relief.

"Thank you."

"We wanted your opinion on another case." Tsukauchi handed him another envelope. "It's not an official case, though. And we intend to keep it that way. It's about the wellbeing of a student."

The moment Viridian opened the file he really wished he hadn't. His own photo smiled back at him._ Motherfucker._

"He's a student of mine. Midoriya Izuku. And until recently, we thought he might've been the U.A. traitor." Eraserhead explained. Viridian hid his unease well.

"All right? So what am I investigating?"

"I'm asking this as a favor." Eraser took a deep breath. "A favor to a friend."

_Aw, shit. He's pulling the friend card. I'm so fucking screwed. _

Viridian spent the next half hour listening to Tsukauchi and Shouta list out every little thing about his civilian persona that he'd tried to hide. The scars, the lack of medical files (damnit, he knew he'd forgotten something!), trauma, flashbacks, knowledge of the Nomu, suspicions of kidnappings or living on the streets… And for once, he really didn't know what to do. He had all the answers they were looking for, and in his current state of semi-panic, he couldn't think clearly enough to look at the situation objectively.

All he could think about was the pair of rings that sat under his vigilante uniform. The main connection between Midoriya Izuku and Viridian. He looked over the file and winced (internally). They'd gathered more than he thought they would.

"You said Midoriya was going to give you information after the Sports Festival, right?" He looked at Shouta.

"Right. That's what he promised me, at least. But I'm worried. If his home life is crap or he's living on the streets, then he might not survive until the Sports Festival."

Viridian was internally offended. _I can survive on the streets just fine, thank you._ An idea suddenly flickered into his head.

"I'll keep an eye on him, for you." He offered, and the two men turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"You're going to stalk him?"

"Just until the Sports Festival." He mentally willed them to accept his proposal. "I'm damn good at staying under the radar, you _know_ that. I'll keep him out of trouble until the Sports Festival rolls around. It's just a couple of weeks, it'll be fine."

"This kid's a trouble magnet if I've ever seen one." Eraserhead groaned. "I have half a mind to join you."

_Shit! No! Nope! Nonononono!_ "What, you don't trust me? Besides, that'll cut into your day job. And your weekend sleep, which we all know you can't function without."

"I _can_ function without. God knows I had to with _you_ running around all last year." He sent Viridian a glare, which he promptly ignored.

"No, I think Viridian's right. Let him trail the kid for the next two weeks—maybe he can pick up on some things we've missed." Tsukauchi spoke up, and Viridian felt like he could kiss the man in gratitude as Eraserhead hesitantly nodded along.

_Time, I love you, Masa! You're officially my best friend!_

"Fine." Eraserhead sighed. "Just… please keep in contact?"

"Will do. Though I can't follow him passed U.A.'s gates… I suppose that'll be safe enough?"

"I'll talk to Nezu about granting you a pass later, if that's what you want." Eraser nearly bashed his nose with his cast in an attempt to pinch the bridge, and this time, Viridian didn't feel like holding back his laughter. He earned a glare for his efforts. "I'd like to see _you_ move around with these stupid things on."

"But that'd require a hospital visit, and we all know that's not gonna happen anytime soon."

"We can hope it doesn't _need_ to happen anytime soon." Tsukauchi chimed in with a glare. "Which reminds me, Viridian. Since Eraserhead's out of commission right now, I was hoping you could take over his patrol schedule."

The vigilante blinked. "Uh… is your agency okay with that? I'm not licensed."

"One, I'm an independent hero; I don't have an agency. Two, we're making an exception this time." Tsukauchi smirked. "Smile."

He smiled on reflex as a flash blinded him for a brief moment. "Wha?!" He heard the sound of a portable printer.

"Here you are. Your provisional Hero License."

Viridian stared at the small strip of plastic in _shock._ "This… this is a sick joke, you know that?"

"It's not a joke." Eraserhead stated. "The public rioted that you hadn't been licensed, and the hero committee looked over your numbers. They looked at how many criminals you've managed to catch vs collateral damage and decided to grant you a provisional license. You'll have another review in a few months, and they'll decide from there if you've earned the right to take the exam for the actual license."

"Well, you had a couple of different heroes vouch for you, too." Tsukauchi said. "The specifics on who were kept under wraps, but there're rumors that Hawks and even All Might recommended you."

"All Might?" Viridian blinked. "I thought he disliked the Quirkless…?" He looked at the ID Card again. "So… this is real?" He felt his eyes moisten.

"Sure is." Tsukauchi grinned. "Congratulations, Viridian. You're a legal Hero, now. The first Quirkless Hero the world's seen."

He quickly swiped the tears away, but they wouldn't stop. The two men shared a surprised look as his shoulders shook. "You okay?" Eraserhead asked.

"I never thought I'd ever… All my life people looked at me like I wasn't even _human_. They laughed at my dream of being a hero and… I never thought I'd ever have a shot at it. And now… I have a _license_."

"It is just provisional, so be careful. You can engage as you see fit, but try to keep casualties and collateral to a minimum. Any little thing can hurt your chances at the exam." Eraser reminded him.

"I know… But…" He looked at the card, which had a picture of his vigilante persona smiling back, only his eyes visible. The name _Viridian_ was neatly printed at the top beside the word _Hero_.

"Thank you."

* * *

**_{Cult of Viridian Chat}_**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi is Online]_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: YEEEEEEEEEE!_**

**_DragoninaDress: … Are you okay?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_**

**_Demonic-Gay-Microwave: oh, god no. not again._**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_**

**_Noiscardily: Not another yee war. _**

**_Barbieisawhore: Better than Yeet vs Yote war. And _definitely_ better than that Teletubbies sticker spam. *shudders*_**

**_MoldiBroccli: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_**

**_TheCakeisaLie: Don't remind me, I'm _still_ traumatized. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_**

**_Noiscardily: Can someone plz just explain what's going on?_**

**_MoldiBroccli: It's AMAZING!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: INCREDIBLE!_**

**_MoldiBroccli: A MIRACLE!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: A BLESSING I'VE BEEN PRAYING FOR!_**

**_DragoninaDress: Still not an explanation, guys. _**

**_MoldiBroccli: Viridian got a HERO LICENSE! HE'S LEGAL NOW! :D _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: He's the world's first Quirkless Hero! It's amazing! _**

**_Barbieisawhore: Ah, that explains your excitement. *Nods* _**

**_Noiscardily: Well, they are the two biggest Viridian fans on the server. _**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: And now maybe I can actually go meet him someday at a panel or something at HeroCon and thank him for saving my life! :D I can't WAIT! AHH I'M SO EXCITEDAOIFAEOWFLAHLKFAWLEFLAIWHFEOWISDJ_**

**_Noiscardily: … I'm going to bed. Night. _**

**_ManlyRiot: GB! GO TO BED!_**

**_GayAFanimeBoi: EEP! Sorry, bro. _**

**_ManlyRiot: Don't apologize. GO. TO. BED._**

**_[GayAFanimeBoi has logged out]_**


	14. Chapter 14: Quirkless Consequences

_**A/N: Oh, wow. Look at that, I'm still alive. Huh. Go figure that one. Sorry it's been a while, guys. ^^ Next chapter may take a tad longer, because while it's mostly written, I'm not satisfied with the way it turned out. The next chapter is not the Sports Festival, but it is important to the plot. I want to make sure it's the best it can be. **_

_**Also, to my readers. I'm sorry that the chapters in this story don't have line breaks. Whenever I put it in, it seems to vanish upon posting. I've tried squiggly lines, too, but those also vanish. I'm trying dashes this time, but I've little faith that it'll work. -_- At any rate, If all else fails, I'll do what I do on Wattpad (a string of words together that they've [for whatever reason] dubbed Linechan and Linkun). **_

_**As always, the fanart I've received from everyone is amazing, and has me dancing in my chair in joy. ^^ If you've got more, please e-mail me at aizawa and remember to add in your username or whatever name you'd like me to use to credit you~!**_

_**Someone's pointed out to me that Japan has a 6-day-long workweek, and schools only take Sundays off. I'm pulling a little liberty here for Izuku's mental sanity and saying that U.A. does Homeschool Saturdays, and lets Heroics Students come onto campus on those days to use facilities if they so choose (my high school did Homeschool Fridays, so it's feasible). And this also gives the teachers the excuse to load on extra wor. ^^ My English is failing me right now, so please forgive any inconsistencies in my writing. Oof. (Mostly because I'm listening to the Attack On Titan opening theme cover by Jonathan Young... [I don't really like AoT, but the music is cool]) **_

_**Out of curiosity, how many of you would be interested in a crossover of BnHA and OHSHC? Like, say Haruhi is Quirkless, too, and she and Izuku were best friends that met on a Quirkless help group when they were kids? So they each have their own cannon events, but they're friends with one another, and Haruhi is always worrying over Midoriya because he's a self-sacrificial person, and Izuku's worrying over Haruhi's sanity being around so many 'damn rich kids'. Just an idea. Probably nothing serious, maybe a cute thing? Though I might semi-kill off Haruhi's dad for a bit more angst... **_

* * *

Nezu's tail flicked as he called the meeting to order. The teachers sat around the table with grim faces. "Has anyone found the sender of the note?" He asked.

"I've analyzed the handwriting, and I'm about 80% sure it's Hanatabi from General Education 2–E." Cementoss stated with a sour look.

"Then keep a _very_ close eye on him. If we can catch him in the act, even better. I'll bring in Tsukauchi to ascertain his statement." Nezu said. He glanced around the room again. It'd been a full week since Midoriya had been given the note and lily, and he hadn't reported any other instances. Either he wasn't reporting them, or their students were being cautious. Nezu didn't like either option. The student responsible for shoving Midoriya down the stairs had been dealt with swiftly and without mercy—his deliberate action had been caught on one of Nezu's _many_ school cameras.

But the flower incident had not, which bothered him. Hanatabi would make sense. The boy had a weak teleportation Quirk. He could teleport any inanimate object the size of a book or smaller to anywhere within a ten foot radius of himself. The better he knew the object he was transferring, or the destination, the easier it was to do. He didn't even need physical contact with the object. He could've easily teleported the flower from within his school bag to Midoriya's desk as he walked past the classroom.

Privately, Nezu thought the child wasted his Quirk. So many applications, and yet no drive. He'd claimed to want to be a hero when he started, but he never applied himself. He could've learned the inner workings of robots and teleported pieces or screws away, compromising the integrity of the structure! This kid could've brought down their Zero Pointer with little more than a wrist movement. But he _refused_ to think outside the box.

(Quite the opposite of Midoriya, who could come up with creative solutions to many problems without the use of a Quirk.)

Nezu was _very_ disappointed. Hanatabi had become bitter over the break about not being able to transfer to heroics. But Nezu refused to transfer someone who didn't show the proper drive or ingenuity. He'd only get himself and others killed. Still… the principal had hoped he hadn't gone far enough to teleport the flower and note to Midoriya's desk.

Nezu had asked the staff to keep a closer eye on Midoriya. All things considered, the boy may not _notice_ half the bullying. It'd become so normal for him over his short life that certain actions, words, and gestures may not come across as threatening or harmful to him. The way Aizawa described his casual reaction to the lily only cemented this theory.

"And Midoriya? Have any of you noticed any unsettling interactions or negative treatment from his peers?" Nezu asked.

"Kids glare at him in the hallways. Some of them don't even bother to hide it unless a teacher's around." Aizawa grunted. "Midoriya's taken to eating his lunches by the window in the east corner of the lunch room. I don't know if he consciously recognizes it, but the window opens easily and there's a sturdy tree right outside. It's a quick, easy escape route should he feel cornered. I fear he's falling back into what look to be some old habits, too. I've caught him hiding school supplies around the campus. I don't know if it's because someone's destroying his things, or if it's because he expects them to."

"He didn't have his text book the other day." Cementoss recalled. "I didn't call him out on it, and he didn't look overly bothered by it. Most kids would be somewhat embarrassed… It's possible that someone stole or destroyed it. He looked surprised when I gave him another copy and offered to go over the material with him again."

"The Little Listener probably hasn't had any teachers that bothered to care before." Present Mic grimaced. "He's gotten a little more skittish lately, have you noticed? And a bit more spacey, too."

The meeting continued for a little bit, before they started switching to more normal topics like school funds and lesson plans. Ectoplasm lifted his head. "Hm? Hold on, we've got a visitor." He stood up and opened the door.

"Uh… s-sorry. I didn't know there was a meeting." Midoriya shuffled a bit in place, obviously uncomfortable.

"No worries, Little Listener!" Present Mic grinned. "What's up? Need some help with the homework?"

"Er… n-no, I just…" His gaze flickered to Aizawa for a moment.

"Did you get another note?" His homeroom teacher asked, and the kid nodded.

"Yeah." He pulled out an envelope and a small box. "They were separate. The note was in my locker and the box was slipped into my bag."

"Has anyone done anything to your school supplies?" Cementoss asked suddenly.

"I mean, I found my literature textbook in the fountain the other day… Sorry I couldn't bring it to school today. I'm still drying it out. I'll return the copy you let me borrow when I can."

"Don't worry about it, Midoriya. We've got plenty of copies. You don't need to worry about the damaged one. And you can keep the one I gave you." He quickly reassured.

"I thought you said you'd report this stuff to me?" Aizawa sighed. His bandages were quickly dwindling down and he no longer looked like a mummy. At the very least, his fingers were individually wrapped and he could grab things again.

"Huh? What, you mean the textbook?" Midoriya looked honestly confused, and Nezu internally sighed as he realized that he really _hadn't_ considered that wrong.

"Midoriya, that's still considered bullying. I don't care if it's after school hours or off-campus. Someone tried to sabotage your education and make you feel unsafe." Aizawa explained.

"Oh." He went a little red. "Uh… so my school supplies going missing…?"

The teachers all internally groaned. "That, too." Mic chimed in. "It's not your fault, Listener. That's why we're here—to help you." The kid blinked for a moment, as if he'd forgotten that detail.

"Now, what's this about notes?" Nezu brought the conversation back on track. The boy hesitated before handing it over to the principal, who happened to be sitting closer to the child than his homeroom teacher.

He opened the letter first. It was typed, he noted. _'I have no idea how a Quirkless waste of space like you managed to get into U.A. at all, let alone the hero course, but I'm sure you had to suck a lot of dick to get it. Tell me, little whore, was it worth it? It's the only thing you're good for, right? Watch your back, because my friends and I are going to get a lot of use out of you. If you don't decide to do everyone a favor and keel over first, that is. U.A.'s building is more than tall enough. You know the staircase by the gym? It's always unlocked. It'll lead you right up to the rooftop. Go ahead if you're brave enough. Freak.'_

"Midoriya, I need you to let a staff member know immediately if you get anything else, okay?" He looked at the boy. "This is a very serious threat."

"I know… It's why I looked for someone after I realized the staff room was empty."

At least the boy knew that much. He wasn't so used to the treatment that he didn't recognize the danger this implied he was in. He'd order the staff to keep a closer eye on the boy, too. He did _not_ want to risk the sender following through on this threat.

Nezu thought for a moment. "I've got something for you, too." He hopped down for a moment before he pulled something out of his bag. It was a small tie-clip.

"Sir?"

"An emergency button." Nezu grinned. "If you ever need us, and a staff member isn't around, press and slide the little button hidden here. It'll send out your location and an SOS to the staff."

The teachers shifted uncomfortably. They didn't know what was in the letter yet, but they recognized that it must've been _bad_ if Nezu was giving a student something like this.

"Thank you, sir." Midoriya smiled before his phone pinged. He glanced at it with a wince. "Crap. I'm late. Keigo's gonna kill me."

"If you have something you need to go do, you're free to go." Nezu smiled, and the kid grinned back.

"Thank you." He closed the door softly behind him, and Nezu let his smile drop.

"All right, Nezu. What the hell was in that letter? You don't just hand out SOS beacons to students because of bullies." Snipe spoke up.

"A suicide baiting and a rape threat." Nezu stated as he passed the letter around. Aizawa, in particular, looked furious. "Needless to say, we should make sure he isn't ever somewhere alone on campus. We can't risk that whoever threatened him has their ways of staying unnoticed."

"And what's in the box?" Hound Dog asked after a moment.

"Let's find out." Nezu cautiously opened the lid, noting that the seal had not been broken. Midoriya hadn't opened it, but the small little card attached to the bow read, _'For the Quirkless Freak'_. The boy had obviously realized it wasn't a nice gift. At first glance, it was a very pretty bracelet with red and black beads. Nezu _almost _picked it up to inspect it closer, when his nose picked up on something.

He carefully closed the lid and put it in a sealed bag. If he were human, he'd probably be rather pale. As it was, his fur was standing on end. "Ectoplasm, make a clone and make sure Midoriya makes it to Hawks safely." The man nodded and did so without question. "Aizawa, I want you to send this to Tsukauchi. Tell him to open a case."

"A _case_?" Toshinori asked, coughing up a bit of blood.

"I can't identify which one it is, but that bracelet is _definitely_ poisoned."

The room collectively flinched. "You mean someone tried to _kill_ Midoriya?" Midnight asked in disbelief.

"It could just be a paralytic. But I'm not taking that chance." Nezu answered grimly. "Whether it was intended as a prank or something more serious, the fact that someone laced an object with a toxin of some kind and intended for Midoriya to handle that object is beyond worrying." He smoothed down some of his fur.

He'd handle this situation swiftly and without mercy. Whoever tried to hurt Midoriya would regret the day they decided to cross Nezu. _Nobody hurts my puzzle. _

* * *

Viridian was roof-hopping again. Covering for Shouta wasn't really much different from his own usual patrols, thus far—though he slept a _lot_ less. At least _Viridian_ knew the meaning of a day off. Time, how did Shouta _do_ this?

He narrowed his gaze as he caught sight of a taped-off area. He silently dropped down near the police, who eyed him suspiciously—not that he could blame them.

"Sorry, nobody's allowed passed this point." He stopped him. Viridian's first instinct was to find another way in, before remembering the license. He pulled it out and showed it to the cop.

"Erm… I have a license?" The cop inspected it for a moment before staring at him wide-eyed.

"S-sorry! Please, by all means." He lifted the tape so the vigilan—_Hero_, he was a _hero_, now—could go in.

He didn't like what he saw. There was a dead hero laying in the alleyway. He recognized her as the Flower Hero: Poppy. She was relatively new to the scene, and a Limelight Hero.

Viridian's brows furrowed as he looked at her body a little closer. There wasn't much sign of a struggle. Sure, she was a long-ranged fighter, but… There was a small slice on her arm, and then the stab wound that'd killed her. It was made from the front, and something about it tickled the vigilante's mind.

Had she been knocked out first? No, her eyes were still open, and there would've been more of a struggle if she had. Her outfit was somewhat dirty, indicating that she'd been patrolling at the time of her death. Likely a relatively quiet patrol.

The alleyway had only one entrance, so what had she been doing in there? Viridian hummed to himself, stroking his chin as he looked closer. There were a few drops of blood on the other end of the alleyway, and a mark on the wall that seemed to have been made by a blade of some kind.

If there wasn't a struggle, then maybe she'd been knocked out by a Quirk, or paralyzed.

Paralyzed… paralysis… knives… "Stain." He realized. The man had the ability to paralyze his victims, and now that he was thinking about it, he'd only been paralyzed by Stain after he'd drawn blood.

That must be it. Either it was his Quirk, or he poisoned his blades, but Viridian didn't recall feeling any aftereffects that'd be associated with poisons or drugs. And many herbal toxins would've been rendered null and void by Poppy, due to the nature of her plant-based Quirk.

That meant that it was Stain's Quirk. He had to draw blood for it to work, then.

Naomasa approached him. "Any clues, Viridian?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is Stain's work."

"The Hero Killer?"

"That's the one. Remember when he almost killed me? He has this ability to paralyze people. Now I'm pretty sure he has to draw blood to do it, maybe even ingest it… his tongue did have rather large taste buds… So he ingests the blood and the victim is rendered unable to move. He then comes over and kills them at his leisure."

"I will never get used to how your mind works, nor will I ever stop being amazed." Naomasa shook his head. "But if the Hero Killer is still in Musutafu…"

"No, it doesn't fit his MO." Viridian shook his head. "Poppy was a kill of opportunity, not a hunt. Sure, she's not the most selfless hero, but she wasn't bad enough for him to come after, either. Nor was she famous enough. He must've just been passing through and happened upon her during her patrol. She died because of bad timing."

"Even still, we're implementing the buddy system again. I'll put out the alert."

"Probably for the best." Viridian sighed. _Wait… isn't something with the Hero Killer coming up soon…?_ He wracked his brain, but only the name Hosu popped up. "Just a hunch, but have Hosu implement the buddy system, too."

"_Hosu_? You sure?"

"Yeah, call it a gut feeling."

Naomasa's eyes sharpened. "I don't know if you know this, Viridian, but a hero's gut feeling is actually legal reason enough to grant things like a search warrant and whatnot. Saying it's a gut feeling is just about as good as presenting evidence." He smirked.

"W-what?" He stuttered. "I mean, that's great and all, but… _really_?" His mind flashed to Tsunogami-san and her soon-to-be-dead husband. She was a coworker of his back in the First Run. They worked at the same café. They were good friends, having bonded over their mutual Quirklessness.

"Yeah, really." Naomasa went to walk away, but Viridian grabbed his arm. The man raised an eyebrow—it wasn't often that the vigilante initiated physical contact.

"Do you have someone at your police station named Tsunogami Ren?"

The detective blinked at the odd question before wracking his brain. "Yes? I believe he works in the field department."

"I know his wife, and I've got a bad feeling. Please…_ please_ don't let her husband die. She's Quirkless. If he dies, her son will go to the foster care system."

"The foster care?! But if she's able—"

"You don't understand, Masa." Viridian sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Quirkless people like us aren't human in the eyes of the law. Sure, for me it meant you couldn't arrest me, but go ahead and look at that law when you get back to the office. Tell me she'd be able to live with her son."

The next morning, Viridian would get a message from Naomasa that would comprise of an angry stream of curse words, all directed at the legal system.

* * *

It'd been nearly two weeks since he'd obtained his Provisional Hero License, and Izuku _still_ couldn't believe that it was real. He'd already used it several times, and he'd given out a few autographs to people, but… He _never_ would've thought that he'd ever be licensed. Keigo seemed just as excited as him.

The only real damper was when Ectoplasm informed Keigo privately to keep an eye out for Izuku. Of course, as soon as they got home, Keigo told Izuku everything Ectoplasm told him not to.

Ah, brothers.

Apparently that gift Izuku had found in his locker the other day had been laced with some kind of neurotoxin or something. It wasn't fatal, but it would've taken Izuku out of the Sports Festival for sure. He was glad he'd listened to his gut when it told him to just turn the whole box in to the staff instead of giving into his inner curiosity and looking.

Maybe Naomasa was right about hero's gut instincts.

It was strange to have the staff looking out for him, but it made him feel good. Of course, with this new development, his civilian persona now _officially_ had an open case. Which was… not fun. Viridian was part of the team investigating, since… well, he was already watching 'himself'. (Keigo had gotten a laugh out of that when he told him.)

It was tiring, keeping up these two separate personas. At least he could be himself around Keigo. Plus there was the added exhaustion and stress of doing Eraserhead's patrols. The man was an independent hero, which was Izuku's only saving grace.

Independent heroes didn't work for agencies. Their pay was entirely reliant upon the criminals they brought in, but they got to work on their own terms. They could accept or reject cases as they pleased without having to explain their reasons to anyone. Though any collateral damage had to be paid out of pocket.

Heroes that had signed onto an agency, however, were typically given set schedules, and were on call nearly 24/7. They were paid by the hour, and the money from the villains they caught was added pay on top of their hourly wage. Collateral was typically covered by the agency, and the hero only had to pay a small percentage (kind of like insurance). And that was great and all, having stable guaranteed income, but they had to accept whatever case their agency assigned to them. They didn't really get a choice. And if their agency told them not to attack a certain person or villain for whatever reason, then they _had_ to listen. No matter what.

Ultimately, Izuku was grateful that Eraserhead was independent. Not only did he get the pay (he split half with Eraserhead because he was a good person and didn't want to leave his friend without his income), but he wasn't chained to some shitty agency who tried to tell him how to do his job.

(Viridian had swiftly rejected all agency offers that he'd been extended. He didn't need the money—he just wanted to _help_ people.)

Although the hours were killer; 9PM–5AM nearly every day of the week (why did Shouta do this to himself when he could set his own hours?!). Which meant his only time for sleeping was when he got home after school, around 4. Plus, he still had what would be three hours of homework if he hadn't already graduated college and obtained a PhD. Even still, he managed to get _maybe_ four hours of sleep at most each night.

His teachers were starting to get worried about the growing bags under his eyes, but he brushed it off. Every time they asked about it, he'd just mutter something about nightmares or whatever. Considering the USJ and his supposed trauma, it was perfectly plausible.

No wonder Aizawa napped throughout class whenever he got the chance. He'd never mock his teacher for carrying a sleeping bag around again. Izuku was damn near at that point, himself.

Hound Dog still hadn't been able to get anything substantial out of him, much to the counselor's ire. Not that he showed it, but Izuku could tell these things. He was _good_ at reading people. And he knew that the man was wearing thin. So he gave him a few breadcrumbs the other day.

_"Midoriya, we can't help you if you don't tell us anything." Hound Dog sighed, leveling Izuku with a stare. The boy sat there for a long moment, thinking. He was going to tell Shouta, Nezu and Hizashi (and undoubtedly Tsukauchi) soon, right? So what was the harm in letting a little bit slip?_

_"There's more than one type of Nomu." Hound Dog jolted. This was the first time Izuku had admitted to anyone other than Aizawa that he had prior experience with the beasts. He didn't dare interrupt for fear of Izuku clamming up again._

_"I remember the first time I saw a White Nomu." He shuddered hard, reaching for a pen and paper on the table beside him. He sketched quietly as he spoke, the action helping keep him grounded a bit. "I'd been hiding in an overturned dumpster. There was another guy hiding in the alleyway across from me. I'd quickly realized that this type of Nomu was blind, and rightly assumed it had enhanced hearing." _

_His eyes unfocused a bit as the memory flashed before him. "It nearly found me. It was so close I could've reached out and touched its snout if I hadn't been petrified with fear. I was sure… I _knew_ I was going to die." He looked Hound Dog in the eye, and the man stiffened. _

_"The other guy decided that he was going to run while it was distracted by me, but he moved too soon. It heard him and…" He flipped the paper over. It was a **very** detailed image of the White Nomu biting the man's head in half. There were no distinguishing features of the man, so Izuku felt comfortable showing it to Hound Dog, who was noticeably paler than before. _

_"You saw this?" _

_"I did." _

_"How old were you?" _

_Izuku gave a bitter smile. "You're never old enough to watch someone die." _

_He seemed to get the hint. Izuku had told him more today than he'd told him in several weeks of counseling. The dog-quirked man knew better than to push the issue, here. _

_Izuku knew Hound Dog was good at what he did. He was good at reading people just like Izuku was, and even better at piecing together the smaller details that his clients let slip. The time-traveler had little doubt that the man _could_ help him with his trauma _if_ he'd explained everything. _

_But he couldn't explain everything. Not yet. And therein lies the issue. _

_"I'm sorry, but… is it okay if we leave it at this today?" Izuku asked. "I… It's not easy to talk about, even if I look calm." _

_"I understand. Thank you for telling me, Midoriya." He smiled and ruffled Izuku's hair. He'd quickly picked up on the fact that Izuku **liked** positive physical touch. He liked hugs and hair-ruffles and things like that, so long as he saw them coming. "You're free to go for the day."_

"Hellooo? Pre-apocalypse to Izuku?" Keigo waived a hand in his face, and the boy stumbled back.

"That's _really_ nice. What if I'd been in a flashback?!"

"You have a _totally_ different look when you're in a flashback. This was more like your 'I'm thinking about something really hard' face."

"You can tell my expressions apart that well?" Izuku raised an impressed eyebrow.

"I mean, we _have_ known each other for… oh… I suppose not as long as I thought. I keep thinking it's been years."

"Me too." Izuku sat back down in his chair properly as he rifled through some papers. His Provisional License caught his eye again.

"It's real." The winged hero spoke up from around the doughnut in his mouth. "You can stop looking at it like it's gonna disappear."

"I'm sorry." Izuku stared at his provisional license again. "It's just… _surreal_." He smiled at his friend and bounced in his seat. "Some places are even relaxing their policies on Quirkless customers! I was able to go to the store yesterday and they only raised the prices by _half_!" He grinned.

"They shouldn't be raising the prices _at all_." Keigo frowned. "How often do they do this?"

"Er… always." Izuku shrugged. "It's normal. Usually they'll double the prices, though. So I was happy."

"Next time you go shopping, take me with you. I'll give 'em a _real_ reason to raise those prices if they're bold enough to try it with _me_ around."

Izuku snorted. "Honestly, I'd pay to see that." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "I wonder how Shouta or Hizashi would react if they saw someone discriminating?" He let an evil grin spread across his face.

"Well, you'd have to get them to a public location with you, first." Keigo pointed out.

"If I drop a couple of subtle ideas to Ashido, I'm sure she'll be able to plan a class outing or something. And of course, our ever-protective sensei would want to come to keep us safe and out of trouble. If I mention it offhandedly to Present Mic, then he's going to bug his husband until Shouta lets him tag along. Nemuri might even join us if Mic blabs."

"You planned that out awfully quickly." Keigo shot him a suspicious look.

"What? It's for a good cause. If U.A. shows the public that it won't stand for Quirkless discrimination, do you have any idea how many more Quirkless kids would work harder to get into the school? Even General Education would give them an _enormous_ leg up in the workforce. Trust me, I had one _hell_ of a time getting a good job, even with the trade school I went to." He shuddered. "I had to go through fucking _Overhaul_ to get a decent paying job, and the shit I had to do for him gave me nightmares."

"Overhaul!? As in the Yakuza?!"

"Yep. And lemme tell you." Izuku's eyes went dark. "The shit he's doing right now makes me _sick_. But we can't intervene just yet." He clenched his fist. "Not yet." _I'm sorry, Eri. Just a little longer, 'kay? I'm almost done._

"O…kay?" Keigo looked like he wanted to push the issue, but he'd learned by this point that doing so could shove Izuku into flashbacks.

"Anyways, what kind of trip would almost definitely give me Quirkless backlash?" Izuku wondered aloud. "Hm… It'd have to be a popular place that wouldn't raise suspicions… The zoo?" He paused. "No, I've never been to the zoo a day in either life. Nobody would recognize me there. Though I'll put that on my 'to visit' list after saving the world. The mall?" He tilted his head. "Too vague. And there's no guarantee that they'd even recognize me as the Quirkless kid… Something that checks IDs, then…" His eyes lit up. "The movies!" He whirled around to face Keigo. "Movie theaters check IDs, right?"

"Er… y-yeah? What, don't tell me you've never been to a movie!"

"Um… Hello? Quirkless? No friends in the First Run? Why would I go outside and get sneered at if I didn't have to?"

"Fair enough." Keigo winced.

"All right… now for the fun part."

* * *

Shouta _really_ didn't want to be here. He would honestly rather be just about _anywhere_ else, actually. Fighting a villain, in a café, guest-starring on his husband's stupid radio show (again), hell he'd rather be doing _paperwork_.

But no. Ashido had the _brilliant_ idea of taking the class out to see a new movie to help calm everyone's nerves for the upcoming Sports Festival. And the whole damn class had jumped on board with the idea.

With the league of villains out and about, he'd be _damned_ if he let his kids walk around without a pro. That was _asking_ for trouble. Shigaraki made it perfectly clear that he wasn't above targeting the class to get to All Might. The fact that he also singled out Midoriya was cause for even _more_ worry.

But kids will be kids; and somehow, Shouta got roped into chaperoning them. And because God hated him, Hizashi somehow found out about the stupid trip and _demanded_ he come along, too. Shouta knew he just wanted an excuse to see the movie in theaters.

Shouta wore his hero costume just about everywhere. It didn't matter if he was on the clock or not, it was more practical that way. Plus, it was comfortable—something he'd made sure of when designing it. He knew he'd have a lot of stakeouts as an Underground Hero, and would often times be stuck in one spot for extended periods of time. As such, he made sure his costume was warm and comfy. It was logical.

Hizashi was in his civilian dress, so he wore an old band shirt with ripped up jeans, his sunglasses, and a biker's jacket. He had his iconic hair down and pulled partially up into a messy bun.

The kids hadn't recognized him, and Shouta internally laughed. Midoriya was the one who'd pointed out who he was.

"Hi Aizawa-sensei! Yamada-sensei!" He grinned as Hizashi jolted.

"You've got a sharp eye, Listener."

"Woah. _Present Mic_?!" Kaminari's eyes were wide. "You look so _different_."

"That's the purpose of civilian clothing vs hero clothing. I don't always wanna be recognized, ya know?" He grinned. "Just call me Yamada for today. Drop the sensei, yeah?"

The kids started chattering excitedly about the movie they were going to see. Midoriya, however, looked uncomfortable. Shouta watched him with a sharp gaze.

Viridian had been keeping him informed of the kid's living situation. He was safe at home, and ate well enough. Hawks often came over to hang out and to make sure he took breaks from his studies. The vigilante hadn't said anything about abuse, and he'd assured Shouta and Tsukauchi that he wasn't living on the streets.

Though he had pointed out that it was perfectly possible Midoriya had run away in the past and lived on the streets _before_ U.A.. It was a solid theory and one Shouta wasn't about to discount.

Though sometimes the Vigilante was _way_ too specific with his observations. Shouta did _not_ need to know what Midoriya ate for breakfast, or how he liked his eggs sunny-side-up, thank you very much.

He even sent pictures sometimes. Made him wonder if the vigilante had experience stalking people. He had little doubt that the other man was somewhere nearby watching.

He glared at a rooftop when he thought he saw a shadow move. _Damnit Viridian. You're laughing at my pain, aren't you?_

He missed the gleam of mirth in Midoriya's eyes.

The kids stepped in line and one-by-one bought their tickets. Midoriya hesitated, though. "Go on, Problem Child." He encouraged. Had the kid never been to a movie theater before?

"S-sorry, sensei." He muttered as he pulled out his ID.

The man at the window looked at Midoriya with mild suspicion, as if he was trying to recognize him. "I'll have one ticket to the 5 o'clock showing, please."

"All right. Price is on the board, please pass your ID."

The kid hesitated but obeyed. The man looked at it and his expression changed to a sneer. He all but threw the ID back at the kid.

"Sorry, we don't sell tickets to _your_ kind."

_What?_

"P-please? I have the money."

"What's going on over here?" Shouta asked, walking over. Midoriya shook a little as a manager came out of the building. Hizashi was standing next to Shouta and the other students looked on in confusion.

The manager, a woman with short black hair and tiny red horns, stalked over with an angry scowl on her face. Before Hizashi or Shouta could do anything, she walked right up to Midoriya and _backhanded_ him so hard that he fell to the ground, before pouring a soda over his head.

Every person froze in shock, Shouta included. _That did **not** just happen._

"Quirkless filth. We don't serve _your_ kind here." The moment the words left her mouth the bystanders who'd gathered in curiosity or concern continued on like it was_ normal_. Like this was something to be _expected_. Shouta felt sick. Someone even laughed and snapped a photo.

Shouta then stepped between the woman and his student, bodily shoving her back with a tad bit more force than necessary.

"You know it's Quirkless, right? I told it if it ever came back, I'd send it packing." She hissed.

Shouta was _beyond_ pissed. He had heard horror stories of how Quirkless people were treated, but said people were so uncommon and such introverts because of their treatment that he'd never seen this kind of thing in person.

Until now.

He was _appalled_. With treatment like this, it was no wonder Viridian looked at their kindness with wary eyes and kept them at arms length. It was no wonder Midoriya looked at the bullying like it was to be expected. The bullying was likely _tame_ in comparison to some of the shit he'd gone through if _this_ was how he was treated for trying to see a goddamned _movie_.

The thought suddenly occurred that Viridian might not notice some of this treatment as wrong, considering he was Quirkless, too. He could be just as used to it as Midoriya, meaning he wouldn't report it to himself or Tsukauchi. They'd need to rectify that later.

Shouta reached into his pocket as calmly as he could and pulled out his Hero License. The woman stiffened a little. "This, is Midoriya. He is my student. If you say or do _one more thing_ that hurts or belittles him in any way, I will _hurt_ you. This is your verbal warning. If you proceed to provoke him or me, I can and _will_ arrest you." He growled. Unfortunately, it looked like the woman was more intelligent than he'd given her credit for, because she backed down. He wished he could do more than fine her for Quirk Discrimination, but legalities state that he had to give a verbal warning first. She backed down, so he couldn't _legally_ beat her to a pulp.

Though if he was being honest, if his students weren't watching, he'd say 'fuck legalities' and kick her ass anyways. Hizashi would bail him out of jail.

"Fine. You will give my students refunds for their tickets, and Midoriya an apology."

"I have no obligation to do either." She glared back, but he saw the shine of fear in her eyes.

"No, no you don't." He let a bloodthirsty grin stretch across his face. "But _technically_ you attacked a hero-in-training in front of his teacher. Under the law, I can treat you like a villain." _And damn do I want to. _Shouta felt Hizashi's hand on his arm, and that was the _only_ thing that kept him from springing forward and knocking this bitch's teeth out. The woman paled.

"Tch. Fine, take your money back. We don't want your service anyways." She huffed. He let his eyes flash red, and she flinched.

"Apologize." He growled out through clenched teeth. Hizashi's grip would probably bruise later, but he was far too angry to care.

"S-sensei, it's fine. I…"

"Midoriya, it's _not_ fine. What she did was far out of line." Shouta argued. He thought he heard a small whisper of 'I'm used to it', but he couldn't be sure.

"Fine." She looked at Midoriya with the most disgusted expression she could muster. "I _humbly_ apologize for my actions and words." She said with a stiff, shallow bow. "Happy?" She turned back to Shouta for a moment before retreating inside.

Oh, how Shouta wanted to beat her black and blue for what she'd done to his student. But he couldn't do that in broad daylight with so many witnesses around. Another reason to hate daylight.

"Midoriya, are you okay?" He turned his full attention to his student, who looked at him with wide eyes. There was a darkening bruise on his cheek where she'd hit him, and a small cut from one of her many rings. He was shivering a bit—it was a tad chilly out—and he was covered in soda. Hizashi's jacket was draped over Midoriya's shoulders, and the kid clung to the edges for warmth. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"Midoriya?" Uraraka asked, the first of the students to speak up. "What… what was that?"

"That's so _wrong_! How could anyone do something so unmanly?!" Kirishima growled. Even Bakugo looked mildly surprised.

"Guys, it's… it's fine. Don't worry about it. People don't look at Quirkless people the same, ya know?" He gave them a smile. And though it wasn't a bright grin, it looked _far_ too real. "I'll be fine. Just a little sticky. You should go enjoy the movie, and lemme know how it is!"

"Tch." Bakugo glared at Midoriya. "If you really fucking think that we're going to waste our time at a shitty place like this that treats people like _that_, then you really _are_ a fucking idiot."

Midoriya looked completely taken aback. "B-Bakugo?"

The blond flinched a little at the name. "It's not right. She didn't even treat you like a goddamned _human_."

"I mean… that's normal." Izuku tilted his head like he was honestly _confused_. "There are just some places I can't go. Stores up the prices for me all the time when they recognize me, and I've even had heroes—" He quickly shut up and Shouta had a _very_ bad feeling. He'd come back to that later. With Hizashi. And probably some other people who could keep Shouta calm because he really didn't want to go to jail for manslaughter—Zashi didn't have enough money to bail him out from _that_.

"Mic, you stay with the kids, I'm going to get Midoriya cleaned up."

"R-right."

"You don't ha—"

"Finish that sentence, Problem Child, and I'll give _everyone_ a pop quiz on Monday." He mentally sighed in relief when the kid shut his mouth again.

He led him over to the gym across the street. They were affiliated with heroes, and let them in with no questions once Shouta flashed his license. He allowed Midoriya to wash up in the shower as he rinsed the boy's clothes in the sink and used the spin-dryer to get them as dry as possible. They were still mildly damp, but it'd have to do. Hizashi's jacket would keep the kid warm, at least.

He stepped out of the room as his Problem Child changed back into his clothes. "I'm sorry." He apologized. Shouta sighed.

"What're you apologizing for, Midoriya?"

"You're… going out of your way for me." He flushed red and looked away.

"Look. What happened may be normal for you, but that doesn't make it any less _wrong_. You are my student. And I will stand by you." _I'll protect you._

Midoriya looked up at him with a plethora of emotions swirling in his eyes. Shouta couldn't even begin to name them all. "Thank you." He said as the tears started to fall. He wrapped his student in a hug as he cried.

For the briefest of moments, his mind went to Viridian, crying in Tsukauchi's office after obtaining his Provisional License. He wondered if Midoriya would be just as emotional, when he obtained his. Midoriya pulled away after a little bit and they started walking out of the gym.

"You mentioned something about heroes earlier." The kid stiffened. "Would you rather talk about it later?"

"Please?"

"I need you to let me know if something like this happens again. Record it on your phone. Text me. I don't care. It's wrong, and technically illegal. Though the most we can do for most of that stuff is fining, if a _hero_ discriminates, they can lose their license."

"I… erm… Yeah."

"Was it a teacher at U.A.?" He needed to know.

"NO! Time, no! No, no, no, it wasn't a U.A. hero! I promise!"

Shouta briefly wondered about the odd phrasing. _Time? As opposed to God? _He brushed it off, though. There were far too many religions out there to pay attention to, and whatever this kid believed in, it wasn't any of Shouta's business. "All right, then. I'll let it drop for now."

"Thank you, sensei."

"We're not in school right now, Problem Child. It's just Aizawa." He ruffled the boy's hair without thinking about it. Hound Dog said the kid liked physical contact. That he thrived off it. And while the boy stiffened for a moment, he melted into the touch not long after.

"Aizawa-se—Aizawa." He corrected himself. They could see the rest of the class up ahead. Shouta turned his gaze lazily towards his student, though he was keeping a sharp eye on the people around them.

Now that he was looking for it, he noticed the way passersby would glare at Midoriya (word must've gotten out about him being Quirkless from the commotion earlier, then). The way people kept a distance from him like he was contagious (he doubted most of the crowd even knew why they distanced themselves around a kid, but one person did it, so the crowd would follow). Shouta found it simultaneously ridiculous and heartbreaking. The kid looked _so _used to it. He'd have to inform Hound Dog and the rest of the staff later.

"I wanted to thank you. Nobody's ever stood up for me like that before. I won't forget it." He sent Shouta a grin before he ran off to re-join the class like nothing happened.

Shouta's heart broke.


	15. Chapter 15: Train Wreck

**_A/N: 12,187 words. 24 pages (on Microsoft Word, my writing platform). Author's note not included. This is the longest chapter I've written for Viridian yet~! :D I really hope you guys enjoy it! _**

**_No, this is not the Sports Festival. But this has character development and some important plot-points (plus we finally meet our fav. Purple boi, Shinsou!) A good portion of this chapter was written to the song, "Zelda Breath of the Wild: Hyrule Castle – Cover (No Marching)". You can find it on Soundcloud or Youtube. ^^ _**

**_How's everyone doing? Hopefully you and your family are safe. I wanted to thank everyone for their awesome fanart~! :D If you've got some to send, please send it to Aizawa and remember to put a username or penname so I know who to credit~! _**

**_I ended up rewriting this chapter a couple of times. Eventually, when this story is finished, I plan to publish all my 'outtakes' in an 'extra' chapter at the end, so you can all see alternates of what could have been (and in some cases, almost was). Perhaps it'll also help inspire some young writers out there~!_**

**_So confession time. I was going to publish this yesterday after work, but I ended up falling asleep instead and didn't wake up until 17 hours later, when I had to leave for work. Whoops~ Hopefully you'll forgive me for that. ^^;_**

**_Also, there will be NO PAIRING FOR IZUKU in this story. I've had a couple people bring that up to me. I'm not pairing him for 2 reasons. 1, I try not to pair my MC with anyone so everyone can enjoy the story regardless of who they ship. 2, because he's mentally nearly 50 years old but physically 15. That's weird and a big no. I'm not pairing a fifty-year-old with a _****child****_ regardless of physical age, nor am I pairing a physical child with an adult for obvious reasons. Just… no. _**

**_Also a question people have asked me. Is Izuku/Viridian gay? The answer is… he's mostly gay with a sprinkle of bi. ;) But as I stated earlier, no pairings, so it doesn't really matter. He can look but nothing more (nor is it something on his mind, all things considered). _**

**_Whelp. I wrote more here, but Microsoft Word 2008 (the version I use) crashed on me and I lost part of my A/N and since I'm such a scatterbrain, I can't remember what I wrote. So…. _**

**_FANART~! _**

**_Big thanks to LILY on Quotev for this one! Make sure to follow that story to keep up-to-date for more art! : / / i . i m g / q / u / 2 0 / 4 / 2 2 / . j p g _**

**_And another big thanks to Inked_Moons who drew us another White Nomu! _**

**_ : / / i . . j p g _**

* * *

Hizashi sighed as he sat down at the meeting table in the staff room. They'd been having more meetings this year than usual, and it was all due to one Quirkless student. He was really fond of the Little Listener, himself, and worried about his safety constantly, but the fact that they had to continually have meetings regarding said safety was mildly annoying.

Worth it, though.

"All right. Now, Aizawa, you said you had an update on the Midoriya Situation?" Nezu asked, eyes glinting in concerned interest.

It was a surprise to most of the staff how quickly Midoriya had grown on Principal Nezu. He wasn't the kind of guy to grow attached to students that way. Not to say he didn't care, because he obviously did, but it was more of a professional care. Like how someone would care about a coworker or a group of people on the other side of the world struggling with poverty or something. But this was more personal. He cared about Midoriya Izuku in such a way that he was pulling out _all _the stops to protect this kid. Whatever potential Nezu saw in him must've been incredible.

He wondered what they did in their private classes? Midoriya had been Nezu's private student for weeks, now, and the kid's studies showed it. His grades had gone from above average to off the charts. Most of his work was actually from Nezu these days, not his teachers (though Hizashi doubted that the kid realized that).

"My class decided to have an outing to the movies at the end of last week." Shouta sighed, taking a long gulp of coffee. "Obviously, I went along to make sure they weren't attacked."

"I came, too." Hizashi chimed in.

"We weren't attacked." Shouta quickly spoke up, before people could start worrying. "I'd expected some kind of Quirkless discrimination towards him. He, himself, had warned me that it was a strong possibility and asked me to let things be if something happened." Hizashi saw Shouta's hand clench into a fist under the table, and rested his own hand over his.

"It started when he tried to buy his ticket." Hizashi spoke up. "The clerk threw his ID back at him and said they didn't serve 'his kind' there. Then the manager came out." He grimaced as he remembered what had happened.

"She walked right up to him and hit him across the face so hard that he was knocked to the ground." Shouta growled out.

"What?!" Nemuri cried out.

"Oh, it gets worse." Hizashi informed grimly. "She called him 'it' and 'thing' and poured soda over his head. Tried to convince Shouta and I that he wasn't worth our time or protection."

"I knew it was bad, but…" Cementoss hissed.

"Afterwards, Midoriya informed me that he faces this sort of thing regularly. Shops raise their prices, there are places he 'just can't go', and he _mentioned_ something about a hero. He promised to explain that one later."

"I was looking last night…" Hizashi hesitated before pulling out his phone. He shot off a quick text to the UA Staff Group Chat. "Someone caught most of the scene on their phone and posted it to social media. Of course, I've since filed a complaint and had it removed, but it just keeps popping up on other sites. I saved a copy to show you what to look out for."

The teachers watched in mild horror and no small amount of disgust as the recording played, picking up from just after she'd admitted verbally that he was Quirkless.

"How awful." Thirteen spoke quietly.

"You look angrier than I've ever seen you." Snipe spoke up, looking at Shouta.

"Like you'd be any calmer in that situation?" He glared.

"Hey, ain't nothing wrong with that. 'Course I'd be just as pissed. Just making a statement."

"Our biggest concern, it would seem, is that Midoriya finds this abhorrent treatment _normal_." Nezu spoke up. "We need to show him that it is _not_ okay. We need to make sure we're doing everything we can to protect him. And while our influence normally doesn't extend beyond our campus, let us not forget—we are_ Heroes_. Use those licenses well. And if you want to put in a request for increased patrol hours, I've left several stacks of said paperwork in the Teacher's Lounge." A predatory grin spread across the principal's face, and Hizashi suddenly realized why he always added in 'bear' to his list of possible species.

He certainly looked like an angry bear ready to protect his cub.

The meeting spun by far too quickly thereafter, and Hizashi dazedly realized that it was time to pack up. "Hold on, Zashi." Shouta put a hand on his shoulder and gestured for him to wait. Once the other teachers had filed out, his husband leveled a look at the principal, who was looking at Shouta expectantly. "Midoriya told me was going to explain things to you after the Sports Festival. But he also wanted myself and Hizashi there. I suspect he'll bring Hawks with him, too."

"I see… So my Puzzle's decided he's ready to help me, then?"

_Puzzle?_ Hizashi blinked.

"I'll set up a meeting. No sense in wasting any valuable time. He said after the festival, correct?"

"That's right. He wanted time to figure out how to explain everything."

"Any idea what would need several weeks of time to explain?" Hizashi raised an eyebrow.

"Your guess is as good as mine." The Erasure Hero rested his forehead on the oak table with a quiet _thunk_.

"Well, then. We'd best get ready for classes, yes? The students will start arriving any minute."

"I hate teaching." Shouta mumbled into the table, causing Hizashi to chuckle fondly.

"Come on, Shou. I'll make you some coffee."

* * *

Bakugo Katsuki was frustrated, as he paced in his bedroom. It wasn't really anything new; he was typically annoyed or pissed off in some way. And the cause wasn't anything new either, because Deku usually pissed him off.

But what had happened at the movies had made him realize something. He'd been an ass. What that woman had done was appalling, and something Katsuki would associate with a villain.

And yet… the things she'd said… the actions she'd taken… Hadn't he been the same? In middle school, wasn't Katsuki knocking Deku's food out of his hands during lunch no different than her pouring that soda over his head? And while Katsuki never outright said it, he'd considered Deku a mere pebble on his road to greatness. Something insignificant and not worth a second glance.

How was that different than calling him an 'it' or treating him as something inhuman?

If his middle-school self had seen what had happened at the movies, he probably would've laughed or moved on like everyone else. He would've thought _'well, that's what a useless Deku deserves.'_ Or something.

The thought made him sick.

Since he'd started U.A… since Aizawa-sensei had given him that first detention after their first Heroics Class, Katsuki had been trying to understand.

He'd been confused and a little frightened when he'd been reprimanded the first time. Then he'd figured (wrongly so, he now knew) that it'd been because he could've killed Deku. And he'd admit—using a lethal attack wasn't very heroic, but in his defense, he hadn't realized how powerful that blast would be.

But the second time he'd been reprimanded, after just calling Deku worthless after the USJ mess, really made him think. He'd been so confused and angry and he couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong.

After a few days, he'd reluctantly gone to Aizawa-sensei.

_Katsuki scowled as he glared at his shoes. This was humiliating. He, the future Number One, was going to someone else for help. Because he couldn't figure something out. He had half a mind to turn around and go home, but he couldn't bring himself to do so. Not when the question had been eating him live for the last three days. _

_So he knocked. _

_"Come in." Aizawa glanced up from his papers, and the bum looked a little surprised to see him. "Bakugo. What can I do for you?"_

_"I… erm…" He huffed, feeling his cheeks redden. "I don't understand." _

_"Okay, what don't you understand?" _

_"I don't understand why I got detention!" He growled, and his teacher's eyes lit up in understanding. "I've always talked to Deku like that! Everyone does! So what the hell did I do wrong?!" _

_"Take a seat, Bakugo." He gestured. Katsuki hesitated, but sat down anyways. "Why do you think it's okay to think less of Midoriya because he's Quirkless?" _

_"I mean, he is less than, right?" His eyes traced the patterns of the wood in Aizawa's desk. "When I got my Quirk, everybody kept telling me how amazing I was, and how I was going to become the best hero. And when Deku didn't get his… they ignored him. Told him he'd amount to nothing. My one teacher said that 'Quirks make the man' or something like that. The better your Quirk, the more you can do in life. Since Deku has none, he can't amount to anything." _

_"And that angers you?" _

_"I mean… he was always a dreamer. Not a doer. He kept talking about wanting to be a hero, but then he'd let people walk all over him! He'd roll over at the slightest provocation! He'd shrink in on himself and nod along to whatever someone else said, and it was so pathetic. He was just holding me back." He took a deep breath to keep his Quirk in check. "And yet he still thought he could be a hero. He didn't train or do anything other than his stupid analysis shit." _

_"Analysis?" Aizawa raised an eyebrow. _

_"Yeah, fucking creepy. He'd stalk heroes and dissect their fucking Quirks. Figure out how they worked and shit. He'd analyze the way they fought, too. And he thought he could be a hero with that alone. It made me fucking angry. Here I was, putting in all this hard work and training to master my Quirk so I could become a hero, and he's just **sitting there** like he expects people to hand him an opportunity on a fucking silver platter!" He shot out of his chair and paced the room. _

_"And how does that make looking down on him okay?" _

_"Everyone did it! Even the teachers would laugh at him for his fantasies!" _

_"Are you aware that people regularly suicide bated him?" Aizawa's eyes were sharp with an emotion Bakugo couldn't name. It made him feel like his teacher was staring into his soul. _

_"It wasn't serious. They were joking. They always did that, and Deku would just laugh and throw away the notes. If he had a problem with it, he would've gone to the principal or something. If it was wrong, wouldn't the teachers have stopped it?" _

_His sensei sighed. "So that's how it is." _

_"The fuck's that supposed to mean?!" Was he giving up on him?! Was he calling him stupid? _

_"I see, now. The system failed you, too." _

_"Hah?" Now he was lost._

_"Midoriya didn't go to a teacher because he couldn't. They were part of that. He had nobody to turn to, Bakugo. The principal didn't care because he was Quirkless. It wasn't that the behavior was okay, because it was so, **so** wrong. It's that the authority figures in your life didn't care to stop the behavior." _

_Bakugo's eyes widened. He wasn't stupid. He was very smart. He may be a bit thick-headed when it came to emotions, but he understood what his teacher was getting at. And he didn't like it. _

_"No!" He clenched his fists at his side, willing the tears away. "No! You can't be serious!" He glared at the ground, unwilling to look at that expression on Aizawa's face any more. _

_Because he didn't look at him with arrogance or pity. But sorrow and understanding. And he **hated** it. _

_He felt tears welling up in his eyes and watched them hit the floor. "It can't be true!" He denied. "Because if it is…!" He shook. "Then I'm no better than them... I _hurt_ him. All these years… I…" He slowly looked up at his teacher. "I _hurt_ Deku." The words felt choked in his throat, but they rung with a sense of truth that even he couldn't deny. _

_"I hurt _Izuku_." God, he felt sick. What the hell?! How could he have not seen it?! It was supposed to be… okay._

_He felt arms wrap around him. His first instinct was to push him away, because he was a teacher and getting hugged by a teacher was _weird_, but… it felt nice. He gripped the man's clothes and let his forehead rest against his chest as his shoulders shook with silent sobs. _

_"You're not like them, Bakugo. Do you know why?" _

_"I _am_ like them." _

_"No, you're not. Because you've realized it was wrong. You regret your actions. They don't. That makes you a better man than they'll ever be." _

_"But… How do I…?" How the fuck was he supposed to make this right? Could he? Ten years… almost eleven. _

_"First, you need to be able to answer this question for yourself." Aizawa pulled away and looked him in the eye, crouching down so they were on the same level. "Bakugo Katsuki. What kind of hero do you want to be?" _

_The Best. Number One. That was his default answer. But that didn't seem like the right answer, here. _

_"Let me put this another way." Aizawa had a glint of amusement in his eye, and it pissed him off. "What do you want to inspire in others?" _

_"Inspire? In others?" The fuck was that supposed to mean?_

_"That's right. All Might inspires safety in civilians and fear in villains. Viridian inspires those without power. Thirteen inspires hope to those in trouble. What kind of emotion do you want to spark to life when people see you? What kind of hero do you want to be?" He smiled and stood up, ruffling Katsuki's hair. He was too surprised to be angry about it at the moment (though he'd be pissy about it later, for sure). "Think about it. Find me when you have your answer." _

That'd been weeks ago. And he'd been struggling with that question the whole time. He stopped antagonizing Deku, and decided to observe for once. The nerd seemed… different.

He'd been different for a while, now. Since that day Katsuki told him to jump off the roof (a regret he'd carry with him to his grave). He'd completely changed. It was like he was a totally different person, and Katsuki didn't know why, but the teachers were watching him with a keen eye these days. Like they were looking for someone who might hurt Deku (which Katsuki thought was stupid, because the Nerd could obviously protect himself, if what he showed during the Battle Trials was anything).

It wasn't until the movie incident that Katsuki had realized what Aizawa had meant about society. What had happened was _not_ okay, but the moment everyone heard he was Quirkless, it was like Deku didn't matter anymore. And _that_ really pissed Katsuki off. If Shitty Hair hadn't been holding him back, he would've blown that bitch to pieces.

And it made Katsuki take a good, _hard_ look at himself in the mirror that night. For the first time, he didn't see a hero staring back at him. He saw a villain. A bully. Someone who inspired_ fear_ in others.

"I don't want that." He clenched his fist as he stared into the mirror again. "I don't want people to fear me." The image of Deku's face through the years, covered in snot and tears. He'd always thought that shine in his eyes was resilience and that it meant he was looking down on Katsuki.

Now he knew better. It wasn't defiance or resilience. It was _fear_. Fear of _Katsuki_. Deku had been _afraid _of him. _Izuku_ had been afraid _of_ him. A tiny pop made him jump, and he realized he must've lost control of his Quirk—something that hadn't happened since he was _six_.

"What do I want to inspire?" He wondered as he stared at the ceiling. He didn't know how to answer that question.

The kind of hero he wanted to be… someone who never lost. Because to lose meant to lose those you cared about. It meant people would die or get hurt, and that was_ not_ allowed.

Bakugo Katsuki had no idea what kind of hero he wanted to be, nor what he wanted to inspire in others. But he'd realized that he was a complete jerk to his _only_ friend. And that was _not_ okay. "De–" He stopped himself. "Izuku. I hope one day, you'll be able to forgive me." He smiled at the ceiling. "I'm sorry." A tear rolled down his face as a bit of his anger dissipated.

"I was wrong."

* * *

Izuku idly scrolled through the recent news on his phone as he sat on the train headed to school. He had three days left of regular classes until the Sports Festival on Thursday, and hardly anyone could concentrate on school with the event looming over their heads.

Some people were excited, while others were anxious as hell. The Movie Incident had occurred last Friday after school, so Izuku had had two days to slowly ease his friends' misconceptions of Quirkless treatment over text. Iida in particular had been shaken, having never believed people capable of such unwarranted cruelty.

Thank Time for group chats. Kirishima had been a lot friendlier with him lately, too. The guy had apparently been bullied a lot during his middle school years, and the two of them bonded a bit over it.

If Izuku had been pleasantly surprised at Shouta and Hizashi's defense of him at the movies (though he'd mostly expected it), he'd been downright shocked at Bakugo's.

The blond had contacted him later over text, and _fucking apologized_ for being such a dick. Izuku never thought he'd see the day, regardless of timelines.

It wasn't an _outright_ apology, mind you, but it was the Bakugo equivalent. When Lord Explosion Murder idly threatens to hurt someone that messed with you, it's his way of saying he cares, and when he says that 'that fucking bitch can go eat a can of fucking dog shit and better crap will spew from her mouth, because she doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about. Insulting a future hero like that.', it's his way of apologizing for being an ass.

Although Izuku might be the only person who'd recognize that. Ah, well. Kacchan was Kacchan even if he was a bastard who no longer deserved the nickname. At least Izuku knew his friend was still alive in there _somewhere_. Somewhere very, very, very, _very_ deep down buried under all that anger.

And on Saturday, Shouta and Masa had spoken with Viridian. Apparently, the Quirkless Discrimination that the Erasure Hero had witnessed had shaken him a tad more than Izuku thought it would. He and Naomasa spent two hours with Viridian, explaining what _was_ and what was_ not_ okay treatment of him. And to make sure that he'd come to them if he found himself in a situation like what Izuku had experienced.

(And half the shit they spewed was crap that Izuku hadn't actually realized wasn't okay, so he supposed it wasn't a total loss).

He thought it was sweet that they cared enough about him to make sure he was okay. Naomasa even explained a few laws that he could use in his favor should the need arise (when, Viridian had corrected them). Izuku decided he was going to start shopping in his Vigilante uniform from now on, considering he could fine the cashier or sue the establishment for upping prices on Quirkless people.

He _might_ have had a little fun with that newfound freedom on Sunday, but if he did, that was between him, Keigo, and the legal offices. (And for once, he wasn't the one they were mad at).

Izuku looked at his phone when a ping notified him that the class 1–A Group Chat was active again. He had half of a witty comment typed out to Kaminari, who'd made some wise-crack about the Sports Festival, when the train suddenly lurched sideways, flying off the tracks. Izuku had barely a moment to brace himself and throw his body over the kid beside in him in the hopes of protecting them before everything went dark.

* * *

Izuku's eyes snapped open. He had a _killer_ headache, but that could've been from the train. His body stayed still on some old survival instinct. He smelled smoke, but it was oddly silent. A few brave crickets sang into the night as the wind blew around him.

"Wind?" He cautiously sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was outside. There was a forest off in the not-too-far distance to his right, and what looked like desert to his left. The hell?

"Bout time you woke up, Zu." His attention immediately settled on the man who stretched his hands above his head. That long black hair with bright red roots poking up from a lack of dye touchup pulled into a low ponytail… Those glimmering blue eyes that shone like his flames. He knew this man.

"D-Dabi?" He gawked. Dabi's brows furrowed.

"Zu? Why're you looking at me like that? Are you okay?"

"I… Dabi, how…?" He paused, glancing at the far-too-familiar desert that he remembered traversing during those long winter months with Shouta. The forest he'd gone hunting in for food when they needed to eat. Though this seemed to be the North Side of the forest, rather than the East Side where he and Shouta had been… but this was all apocalypse turf. What the fuck was going on? "Dabi…? When am I?"

"Hell if I know. Calendars and phones don't fucking exist anymore, remember? What, you have a bad dream?" He gave Izuku an odd look.

_No… Don't tell me…_ "But… the portal…?" His heart was thudding loudly in his chest. He felt like he couldn't breathe. This couldn't be real. He'd just been in the past. He'd just been on the train in Musutafu on his way to class.

"Shhh… Zu, listen to me. Breathe with me, okay?" Dabi had a gentle hand on his shoulder, which grounded him to _now_. He realized abruptly that he was light-headed.

_A panic attack?_ He mentally questioned. He didn't get those. He must've really been freaking out.

"The portal didn't work." Dabi continued calmly. "That was months ago. I found you wondering around the wastelands a few days after and you explained everything to me. Project Hope failed. Remember?"

Izuku opened his mouth to argue—because obviously that was _wrong_—when the memories made themselves known.

He remembered hitting the ground on the other side of the portal after Shou had shoved him through. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but it didn't do anything else. When it exploded, he was buried in the rubble, and even had a few burn scars from the hot shrapnel falling on him. Shigaraki had snarled something and left, but he hadn't heard it over the rushing in his ears as the pain faded.

Izuku had laid there for hours, begging… pleading that this was wrong. That their last bid hadn't been for nothing.

But when he'd finally pulled himself from the rubble, he'd seen Shouta's remains. And it wasn't pretty. He still had nightmares of that corpse looking at him with an accusing eye (the only one remaining) as he choked on blood, blaming Izuku for failing. For miscalculating _something_ that caused the portal's failure. That Shouta's death was for nothing.

He'd spent three days in that room, unable to comprehend that they'd failed. It was only when he'd finally come to terms with the bitter truth that Izuku had taken Shouta's Capture Weapon—because it would help him survive, and he'd somehow lost _the rings_ in the rubble, and that made his heart _fucking hurt._ He'd then wrapped the tattered and bloodstained Capture Weapon around his own neck and given Shouta the closest thing to a proper burial and grave as he could. He'd _sobbed_. He cried harder than he had when Zashi died, and that was saying something.

He'd been so broken… so hopeless. They'd bet _everything_ on that stupid portal, and it hadn't even fucking _worked_. Not only that, but they'd blown it up so Shigaraki couldn't follow on the off-chance that it _would_ work, which meant Izuku couldn't even try again.

The odds of the portal working had only been 22.2% at best, anyways. Izuku hadn't known why he was so depressed over it, he'd _expected_ it to fail. But he'd expected to fail alongside Shouta. He'd planned to either survive with him, or die by his side.

Izuku had never planned to survive alone.

He'd wandered the wastelands aimlessly, in the hopes of finding Shigaraki. If he couldn't kill him in the past, he'd do his damndest to kill him here. He wasn't a believer in revenge, but he'd already lost everything. What was the point in beliefs and morals when nobody existed but you?

And then he'd found Dabi. Or rather, Dabi had found _him_, rescuing him from a pack of Black Nomu that Izuku had honestly been fine dying by.

Izuku didn't know how Dabi had managed to survive, but he didn't really care because now he wasn't alone anymore. He and Dabi had been travelling together for months, now. The Portal's Failure had been seasons ago… maybe a year?

The memories were fresh and crisp—clear as day. But so were his 'memories' of the past. Of Keigo and Masa and Aizawa-sensei. Of the Movies and his Provisional License, and—

Izuku shook his head. "I'm sorry. I remember now. I had a dream that the portal worked… that's all. I was… confused." Now wasn't the time to share these thoughts or troubles with Dabi—the man looked like he could keel over any minute. Izuku knew the feeling.

He felt exhausted and sore all over. His stomach tied itself in knots as it tried to rebel for lack of food, and his mouth was incredibly dry. They'd need to find water soon. He idly noted that his left wrist was sprained, and he had a nicely healing gash on his left leg. "Get some rest, I'll take watch." Izuku stated, easily falling back into his old routine.

"You _sure_ you're okay?" Dabi asked again, raising an eyebrow. "Because you looked _weird_ before."

"Yes, Dabs. I'm _fine_." He huffed, chucking a rock at his companion's face, which was swiftly dodged. "Get some sleep. Time knows you need as much beauty rest as you can get to fix _that_ ugly mug."

"Look who's talking!" Dabi glared, but there was a shine of mirth in his eyes. He settled down to rest.

Izuku kept his eyes and ears open, constantly scanning his environment. His heart ached. As the situation started to sink in, everything seemed to hit him harder than the train wreck he _thought_ he might've experienced.

_I need to think about this logically_. He winced at his mental wording, as he reached into his pocket. It was impractical, these days. And the inner lens was broken, now, so it didn't even serve as protection anymore, but it was all Izuku had left of him. That and the bloodstained Capture Weapon he wore around his own neck.

He stared at the familiar yellow goggles. They were beaten, bloodstained, and worn. There was that little dent from the USJ incident, and that spot where the clasp had to be redone. The claw mark on the left side where a Nomu had nearly gotten him, only for Izuku to save him at the last second. The tiny little cloud engraved on the inside of the bridge of the nose, so Shouta could always carry some memory of Shirakumo with him wherever he went.

Izuku looked up at the stars. This… he hadn't been prepared for this. What had gone wrong? He was in the past and then the train wreck… Was that even real? It certainly _felt_ real, and Izuku didn't think his imagination was good enough for all the details he could recall. If it _was_ real, did he die? Did his younger self die and his memories return to his older self? Was that even _possible_?!

If that was true, then what the hell was he supposed to do?! He'd taken the notes on Project Hope with him to the past! It would take him _decades_ to replicate it from scratch, and that was _if_ he could remember everything properly.

And if his younger self was dead, was there even any hope?

"Wait, don't be stupid, Izuku." He spoke softly, needing the sound of _something_ to ground him. He winced when Dabi stirred lightly before falling back asleep. _If your younger self died, then you'd be dead too. No future without the past. Ugh, I hate time travel._ He pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off an oncoming headache.

_Okay… did it wear off, then? Is my past self just wondering around with a case of amnesia, unaware that he's Viridian and a U.A. Heroics student?_ He paused, stroking the familiar stubble on his chin, whiskers rough against his calloused hand.

_Again, no. Because then I wouldn't be me. So… that means I'm in an unaltered future. So I didn't do… anything? So it really was fake?_ He felt tears of frustration and grief well up in his eyes. There had to be a way to prove it wrong. There _had_ to be something to prove that his time in the past _happened_. That it was _real_.

Izuku had never really interacted with any of 1–A during the First Run… where he currently was right now. He had barely even known the names of the surviving class members, and that much was only because of Shou. Maybe he could find some kind of proof there? If he knew information that he should have no way of knowing, then it'd prove beyond a doubt that he really _did_ live in the past. So he needed to confirm that his information was accurate… Maybe some object? Like some diary entry from Uraraka about how she fought against Bakugo in their first class?

No, that was stupid. Nothing like that would've survived the apocalypse.

_I'm… Lost… I don't know what to do…_ He despaired. He was stuck. Completely and utterly _stuck._ He had no way of knowing why he was back in the future, or if what he'd experienced over the last year and some change was even _fucking real_.

What if he'd just passed through the portal and it knocked him out, like his other set of memories explained? Maybe he _dreamt _the whole thing. Was Dabi right?

He felt all the hope in his soul implode into a deep swirling pit of despair. _Time… what the hell? I don't understand! What the hell is going on?!_

All this thinking was giving him a headache. Time travel was _way_ too confusing. He rubbed his temples, but the pounding persisted.

A nearby sound made his head snap to the left harshly. He ignored the flare of hot-cold pain that told him he'd pinched a nerve in his neck and mentally cursed. They weren't close enough to be a danger _yet_, but if the wind changed direction, they'd have trouble.

"Dabi." He hissed quietly, and the man startled awake silently. His gaze followed Izuku's until they landed on them. Two Dark Nomu and a Green Nomu.

The Dark Nomu looked fairly similar to the one at USJ, though they weren't as bulky, which allowed them greater speed. Their strength wasn't anything close to the USJ's Nomu, but when their bite force was greater than a shark, brute strength wasn't much of a concern anymore.

The Green Nomu walked on four legs. The hind legs were freakishly long, giving it a good jumping range, and the tail was short and thick. Most of its head was an exposed brain, and the snout was somewhat short. They were somewhat gorilla-like in appearance. They weren't overly fast, but they were freakishly tenacious.

Izuku was once tracked and chased by a Green Nomu for two months straight. They were also incredibly loud. They _howled_, which attracted the attention of _more_ Nomu. General consensus was that it was never good luck to run into a Green Nomu.

"Shit." Dabi cursed. "You kill the Green one, I'll take the Dark one?" He suggested.

"Why do _I_ have to take the Green one? What if I want the Dark one?" Izuku huffed.

"Because you're sneakier than me. If that thing howls, it'll attract every Nomu in a thirty-mile radius, and you _know_ it."

"Fine. Leave it to me." Izuku was putting a _lot_ of trust in Dabi, here. But that wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

He went into full stealth mode, stalking unnoticed up towards the Green Nomu. It took a painstaking eleven and a half minutes to get close enough to sprint, but still be far enough away that the Dark Nomu didn't spot him.

He gripped his sai, hand steady. This was fine. Easy, even. He _knew_ this. He'd been doing this for _years_. He felt a grin spread across his face as he fell into the familiar stance. It felt _good_ to be able to hunt Nomu again, no matter how terrifying they were. It also felt _right_ to be in his adult body once more. While it had been strange at first, having been used to his child-sized self again (at least, he _thought_ he was), it was frighteningly easy to adapt to his older self.

He sat, hidden in some bushes. It would only be a matter of moments. The Nomu was _almost_ in range.

Then the wind abruptly changed direction, and the Green Nomu's eyes landed on _him_. He didn't hesitate. Hesitation would only get him killed, possibly Dabi too. He ran straight at it, sliding under the Nomu's gaping maw and thrusting the Sai up, catching it in the chest.

It was luck and muscle memory that allowed him to pierce its heart on the first try. It let out a strangled half-howl, but it was far too quiet to be a danger. A desperate claw nicked his arm, but he shrugged it off. It was minor, and nothing that would hinder his movements.

He felt the shadow of the Dark Nomu loom over him, felt the hot breath blow against the back of his neck. The familiar icy fingers of death brushed his aura, but Izuku didn't turn. He twisted his Sai to make sure the Green Nomu was truly dead, as Dabi—as he knew he would—set the Dark Nomu ablaze with a concentrated burst of flame to the brain.

He glanced at how close the claw had come to killing him—eight millimeters. "Cut it a little closer next time, Dabs. I'll say hi to Zashi and Shou for ya." He sent his brother a mild glare.

"Shut up and be happy I saved your sorry depressed ass at all, idiot brother."

"Asshole."

"The one and only."

Dabi jumped down as Izuku stood to face the last wary Nomu. This one must've been a particularly smart Black Nomu, because it actually backed away. It was intelligent enough to know that this prey was too strong for it.

It growled and ran.

"Aww, was it something I said?" Izuku grinned. His headache was still killing him, and the sun was starting to peek out from over the horizon. He winced and hissed lightly as the light made his head pound.

"You okay?"

"Headache." He explained as he turned away from the quickly brightening sky.

"Concussion?" Dabi tilted Izuku's head to get a better look at his eyes, watching the pupils shrink as he lit up a flame on his fingertip.

"Not that I'm aware of." Izuku growled at the light nonetheless, sharpened canines glinting in the first rays of sunlight.

"Doesn't seem like one." Dabi tapped his chin. Izuku was mildly jealous—Dabi was incapable of growing facial hair due to his burns, whereas Izuku was left with an itchy mess (and tangled if it got long enough). Though he _had_ missed it, he just wished he could trim it up a bit—or maybe _wash_ once in a while.

He scratched at his growing beard, idly noting that he needed to shave again. Where did he put that pocketknife?

"Come on. There'll be more of them before long. Royals have pack." Dabi led the way back to their camp and started packing their meager belongings into a bag. Royal Nomu was an alternate term for the Black Nomu—given to them due to the crown-like protrusions around their brain.

"Right." Izuku went through the motions of packing up camp. His headache was getting worse, and there was a ringing in his ears, now. _Timedamnit, what the fuck?_

He scrubbed his face to ground himself again and managed to pack the rest of his shit. Dabi kept glancing back at him as they traveled.

Izuku didn't make it more than four hours. His headache had gotten steadily worse, and now his vision was even cracked. "Shit, Dabs, I gotta rest… It's a migraine."

"How bad?"

"Vision's cracked. Can't see shit. And you sound garbled as fuck." He sat on the ground (wherever they were, it felt like the forest) and covered his eyes, bringing a brief relief.

"All right. I'm going to find us some shelter, then." Dabi sighed before Izuku felt himself being picked up.

"Hoi!" He protested. "I am a grown adult! I can walk!"

"Shut up, you can't walk in that condition, and you're stupid if you think I'm leaving you. Besides, you're not even that heavy. Perks of malnutrition." Dabi smirked. Izuku sighed as he resigned himself to this torment. He rested his head against Dabi's chest, listening to the man's heartbeat.

"Hey, Dabs?"

"Yeah?"

"If I ever really did go to the past, would you want me to find you?"

He heard Dabi snort. "Nah. I was a punk-assed little shit. You wouldn't want to run into me. I would've likely flambéed your ass without a second thought."

"Noted." Izuku chuckled weakly. He felt a cool hand on his forehead and subconsciously pressed closer to it.

"Damn, Izuku. You're burning up." He sounded worried.

"I am?"

"Yeah." He was quiet for a long moment. "If you really did go to the past, I'd want you to save my family."

"The Todoroki family?"

"Yeah. Our father was an abusive asshole who beat us up under the guise of training. He got our mother tossed in a mental hospital after she burned Shouto because of the abuse _he_ put her through. None of us really knew what happened, and Shouto never talked about it, but that was sort of the tipping point for me." He took a deep breath and sighed. "I told you that I was a Todoroki, right?"

"Yeah."

"My real name is Touya. Todoroki Touya."

"You don't like it?"

"It's not that." Dabi smiled a little. "I tried to kill Endeavor. He'd been beating our mother for as long as I could remember, and I was just sick of it. And poor Shouto didn't deserve that, either. But he burned me, instead. My flames are a lot hotter than his, but I was inexperienced. He gave me these scars, and I let him think me dead."

"You faked your own death? I think I remember you telling me that."

"I might have. I can't remember, either." Dabi laughed. "It's not that I dislike my name—Touya. My mother gave it to me, and it's my only gift from her I have left… but I ran away from my family. I abandoned them because I was too scared to go back. I don't have the _right_ to go by the name anymore… not when I left my siblings… _Shouto_ to that monster."

"Touya." Izuku tested the name on his tongue. "I like it. It sounds nice."

"I'm not Touya, though." Dabi gave him a bitter smile as he set him down on an old worn blanket. "I gave up the right to my mother's name when I left my siblings for dead. I'm Dabi, now. And that's the name I'll have until the day I die." He sighed as he set their stuff down. It was a lot darker in here, and Izuku's headache eased a bit. He glanced around.

"A cave?"

"Yeah. The entrance is pretty small, so the Nomu shouldn't be able to reach us, here."

"Thank you, Dabi. For telling me about your past." Izuku smiled.

"Thank you for listening." Dabi smiled softly.

"Can I sleep, Dabs?"

"Yeah, Zu. You can sleep."

Izuku closed his eyes and let his headache consume him. The last thing he heard was Dabi's forlorn sigh. "If you ever make it to the past, Izuku… Save me. I don't want to die nameless."

* * *

Izuku gasped awake, clutching his head in _agony._ He blinked several times, but nothing made sense. Garbled words registered in his pain-addled mind as far away, and it took him several minutes before he managed to crack open an eye.

This wasn't the cave he'd fallen asleep in. He blinked as his brain began to organize itself. Gears started spinning and his headache quickly died down to a dull throbbing roar. He was buried beneath rubble. Had he and Dabi been attacked? No, he surely would've woken up, fever or not.

He knew better than to call out to his brother. There could be Nomu—or worse, _Shigaraki_—around. But something wasn't right. He scrubbed his eyes as he hesitantly sat up, noting minute movement next to him. The rubble had fallen around him, creating a bubble of space.

No, that wasn't right. He was staring at a chair. A chair on the… wall?

_The train._

Everything clicked into place. He heard people moaning around him in the distance, but the way his car had crashed isolated him from any other survivors. If he'd been sitting even one chair to the left, he'd have been crushed. As it was, the man who'd been sitting across from him was staring blankly at the ceiling, a puddle of sticky red letting Izuku know that he was already gone.

_Okay. I'm… back in the past? Again? What the fuck?_ He was relieved, worried, angry and confused. But most of all, Izuku was _scared_.

He was relieved because that meant he could now go back to trying to kill Shigaraki and preventing this entire disaster. Worried because what was going on with Dabi in the future now? Angry, because this kind of shit would only fucking happen to _him_, and confused because he really had no idea what the fuck was going on.

And he was scared. He was _terrified, _because he didn't know what the fuck was going on anymore. Was this real? Or was he dreaming again? What was the real one, then? The future, or the past? Did the portal work, or not?! Who was even alive anymore?!

Was he Izuku the Survivor? Or Viridian the Hero?

He didn't know anymore. He mentally shook his head, shoving his panic and questions to the back of his mind. That wasn't what he needed to think about right now. People were in trouble—_he_ was in trouble. Izuku needed to find a way out of this wreckage before he really _did_ bite the dust. (He mentally winced at his choice of wording, the phrase hitting a little too close to home with the state Shigaraki's victims were left in).

The voices became a bit clearer, and he recognized the telltale sounds of a hero fight nearby. Ah, a villain must've overturned the train, and now heroes were on the scene.

He reached up to his head with a wince, pulling his hand back with blood. Ow. Concussion. Not cool. He stopped when he saw his arm.

The scratch he'd gotten from the Green Nomu was still there. It looked just as it had when he'd fallen asleep in the cave. And while someone else could easily mistake it for damage done by the crash, Izuku _knew_ what a Nomu's claw injury looked like. Nothing could quite replicate it. He also stopped to stare in horrified fascination at the inside of his left wrist.

In the new First Run memories floating around in his head, the aftermath of the Portal's destruction had left him with several burn scars where hot shrapnel had fallen on him. One piece of metal had a symbol etched into it, the universal symbol of infinity—a lemniscate. It was now branded on the inside of his left wrist, but he'd gotten that _after_ the Portal had exploded.

This made no sense.

His attention abruptly shifted to movement next to him, his head whipped to the side just as it had with the Nomu earlier that day—or… whatever. He realized a kid was there. _That's right… I shoved my seat-partner out of the way when we crashed._

"He—" Izuku started coughing. "Hey." He tried again, and the boy awoke. His purple eyes looked around panicked even as his poofy purple hair sprung out in every direction. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…" He looked startled.

"Thank goodness." Izuku smiled. "I'm Midoriya Izuku." He held out a hand. Confusion could wait. He needed to protect this kid.

"Shinsou Hitoshi." He eyed Izuku's uniform for a moment. "Hero Course?"

"Yeah. U.A. You go there, too, right?"

"General Education." He glowered. Izuku recognized that look. "So what's your Quirk? Must be something powerful if you're in the Hero Course." His tone was bitter. _He probably has a bad stigma or weakly perceived Quirk. _

"Sorry, I don't have one." Izuku shrugged easily as Shinsou startled badly.

"You… you're _Quirkless_?" He gaped. "But I thought you said you were in the… The rumors are true?"

"We can talk about that later." Izuku shook his head softly, careful of his concussion. "Are you hurt?"

"No? I don't think so." He eyed Izuku warily. "You didn't ask about my Quirk."

"I assumed it wasn't something relevant to our current situation, since you asked about mine first."

"Brainwashing isn't useful against steel."

"That's a cool Quirk." Izuku smiled, startling the boy. "I'm sure you get the 'villain's Quirk' card a lot. I get it—trust me. I've been Quirkless all my life. So don't expect that from me, yeah?"

"Yeah." He smiled softly. "Any ideas how to get us out of here, though?"

"Er…" He looked around. They _could_ break the window, but the entire structure was unstable. And from the looks of it, the window led to a nice drop that he estimated would kill them both. So that was a no. The rest of the car was crushed, meaning no escape there, either.

"We must've been thrown off the tracks and into a building." He guessed.

"Can't we go out this way?" Shinsou approached the window, but the car gave an ominous creaking sound that had him hastily retreating.

"Yeah, no. Not unless you can brainwash a few birds to slow our descent."

"Animals are _not_ my forte. Tried it, and I _still_ got bit by that dog."

"All right, plan b, then. Call for help." Izuku looked around for the sign of his phone, which had been in his hand during the crash. He caught the telltale glint of black poking out from the pool of blood on the floor across from him. _Thank fucking time I had Keigo waterproof and reinforce this motherfucker. Thank you Keigo. I owe you a ton._

"Hah. Yeah, no. Mine's trash." Shinsou held up the crushed remains of what had been a smart phone.

"You can probably salvage the information from the phone. Looks like it's mostly the screen that's damaged." He reached out and plucked his phone from the cooling puddle of red, making Shinsou turn an interesting shade of green. Izuku casually flicked a piece of skull off his phone and wiped the screen clean (or as clean as he could) with his shirt. "Luckily, a hero friend of mine fixed this up for me."

"You have a hero friend?"

"He saved me from a villain attack once and now he practically lives with me." Izuku chuckled.

He thanked his lucky stars that Masa had let Viridian take a 'day off' from watching Midoriya. The detective had needed the vigilante-turned-hero to help out on another case (which said vigilante promptly made a huge amount of headway on and set his e-mail to send the file at a specific time so it wouldn't look like he was in school). Otherwise, he'd have a _lot_ of explaining to do as to why he wasn't helping Midoriya escape the train.

"Oh, shit." He cussed quietly as he checked the time. Class had started _half an_ _hour_ ago. He had a ton of messages from his friends, and even one from Aizawa himself. Perks of never missing class, he supposed. When something was wrong, people figured it out pretty damn quickly.

"What's up?"

"Classes started half an hour ago." Izuku sighed. Shinsou snorted in disbelief.

"_That's_ your concern? We're sitting in a burning train with what sounds like a villain fight outside, and you're worried about missing classes?"

"You obviously haven't met Aizawa-sensei." Izuku smirked.

His phone lit up again, Aizawa was calling. Speak of the devil. He answered it.

"Problem Child, where are you? School started half an hour ago." He sounded worried and impatient. Likely assuming that Izuku had gotten distracted or something, but there was that edge of uncertainty in his voice.

The sound of his voice brought up all the memories future-him had. Of realizing that Shouta was gone, and he was alone. Finding his remains and taking the bloodstained Capture Weapon as a memento. His informal funeral… His hand went for the Capture Weapon, only to realize it wasn't there. He settled for gripping the rings instead. _Shou…_

"So-" Izuku broke off into another coughing fit for a moment. The smoke was getting worse.

"Midoriya?" His tone was more urgent this time.

"Sorry, sensei." He managed to wheeze out as he caught his breath. Shinsou awkwardly patted his back to help him breathe. "I… er… got caught up on the way to school."

"That's an understatement." Shinsou rolled his eyes.

"Where are you? What's wrong?"

"Er… I think the train I was on got attacked by a villain?" He guessed. "Might be on the news, I don't really know. I'm sorry, I'll be there as soon as I can."

He heard Shouta let out a huff of worry and disbelief. "Please don't tell me you took the A–18 Train."

"Uh…" He looked at Shinsou, who nodded. The look on his face clearly judged him for not knowing which train he'd gotten on, but in Izuku's defense, he was a little discombobulated at the moment. And concussed. "Yeah. That's the one."

"_Goddamnit_ Problem Child!" He cursed, and Izuku blinked in surprise at the swear. "I'm on my way, _stay on the phone_."

"Uh… okay?" He was confused. Was it _that_ bad of an incident? He knew it was probably bad, but hearing the way his sensei was reacting… It was unlike Shouta to show such panic or worry openly in his tone.

"Listen to me. The train is in a very volatile state right now. Newscasters say it could blow—or fall, depending on which car you're in—any minute. If you can, you need to find a way out. Heroes on the scene are mostly engaged in fighting the villains that caused this."

"Right… Uh, sensei? I'm also with another U.A. Student."

"_Shit_. Okay, are either of you injured?"

"Um… I've got a concussion for sure. I think…" He moved a bit more, testing limbs and movement. "Dislocated shoulder… gimme a sec." He hastily popped it back into place, and he could've sworn he heard Aizawa hiss on the other line. Shinsou looked a little green. "Okay, that's fixed. Um…"

"You're _crazy_." Shinsou stared.

"Yeah, I know." Izuku shrugged, wincing a bit at his sore shoulder.

"You're giving me grey hairs, kid."

"That's cool." He replied without thinking. "Okay, yeah concussion. I think that's the main one. Shinsou says he's fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's got one, too."

"Hold tight, Problem Child. We're on our way."

* * *

Shouta's day had started with one of his cats laying across his face and a dead alarm clock. Not ideal by anyone's standards, and that meant that he started off a full thirty minutes behind schedule. Hizashi had left fairly early to grade papers before classes started (something Shouta did at night between the end of the school day and start of his patrol, which he'd recently been able to get back to), so nobody was there to wake him up except the cats.

So not only did he wake up mildly panicked and _majorly _cranky (and without his morning cuddles), but because he was running behind he didn't have time to eat. Okay, fine. That's what the jelly pouches were for. He snagged one and poured his coffee into his thermos to drink it on the way to school. He could still make it on time if—

And then he'd tripped over Cocoa, one of his cats. She was fine, thankfully. Pissy, but fine. But Shouta hadn't gotten the lid on his thermos yet, and the coffee spilled all over the hardwood floor. Cocoa yowled angrily at him and sent him a baleful glare from her new perch on the arm of the couch. Shouta glared right back.

By the time he'd cleaned that up (because you do _not_ leave coffee laying around where cats can get to it, nor do you leave liquids on hardwood floors), he realized he'd had just enough time to make one more cup.

Except that was the last bit of coffee in the house. He was out. Fuck his procrastination tendencies; he knew he should've gone grocery shopping yesterday.

So no coffee. _Wonderful_. He grabbed his keys and hurried out the door, intent on at least getting to class on time. He could grab some of the coffee from the break room before homeroom. He'd just have to suffer until then.

But no. Fucking traffic was a bitch and a half today. He parked his car, _scaled_ the side of U.A. (nobody saw, thankfully), and slipped into the doors of 1–A _seconds_ after the bell rang.

Today was looking like a fuckfest already. He wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep. He opened his mouth to tell his class that he was going to do exactly that, and not to bother him, when his eyes landed on Midoriya's empty seat.

His mouth snapped shut and suddenly, Shouta didn't feel like sleeping anymore. Midoriya had never been late or absent, and his middle school records were much the same. "Where's Midoriya?"

"I don't know, sensei. He hasn't answered any of our texts." Uraraka answered worriedly.

His gut was twisting uncomfortably, and Shouta knew to trust his gut above all else. But right now, he couldn't do much of anything. So he hesitantly went ahead with homeroom, shooting the kid a message. It was entirely possible that Shouta was overreacting and his gut was just angry with him for missing his daily fix of caffeine.

Maybe Iida was right, and Midoriya overslept? Shouta, himself, had done so that very same morning. If he didn't hear back from him by the time homeroom ended, he'd call. Most kids don't hear texts anyways. Ringtones were set louder than texts, after all.

Thirty agonizing minutes later, Shouta dismissed class and went straight for the Teacher's Lounge. His coworkers were all watching the TV. His eyes caught the headlines. A robbery gone wrong. Fleeing villains attacked and derailed a train in their attempt to get away, and now heroes were trying to rescue people and hold back the flames. The villains were still occupying most of the attention, unfortunately, but it looked like the train was going to blow. Shouta didn't catch if it was because of the engine, or because of a Quirk. Part of the train had even been flung into a nearby building, and was dangling from where it was embedded four stories up. All Might was already on the scene, helping subdue the villains. It should be dealt with shortly, but…

Shouta's gut _churned_ with a sickening violence. He pulled out his phone and called Midoriya. Luckily, he picked up almost immediately.

"Problem Child, where are you? School started half an hour ago." His voice came out a little harsher than he intended, but he was _worried, _damnit. Thirteen, Hizashi and Cementoss turned their gaze towards Shouta.

"Midoriya wasn't in class?" Hizashi asked, and Shouta shook his head.

"So-" Midoriya's voice cut off into terrible hacking coughs, and his feeling got worse. There was an odd sound in the background, like creaking or crackling. It was hard to tell over the phone.

"Midoriya?"

"What's wrong?" Cementoss' gaze sharpened. Shouta shrugged. How the hell was he supposed to know?! The kid was hacking up a lung on the other end of the phone.

"Sorry, sensei." God, he sounded horrible. His voice was painful to _listen_ to. It sounded like the kid ate sandpaper. "I… er… got caught up on the way to school."

Was that another voice in the background? "Where are you? What's wrong?" This kid's track record was frankly terrifying. Of course, on the _one_ day they told Viridian he didn't need to watch the kid.

"Er… I think the train I was on got attacked by a villain? Might be on the news, I don't really know. I'm sorry, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Shouta's brain froze and he felt himself pale rapidly. His eyes were wide and he exhaled sharply, mostly to try to get his brain working again. "Please don't tell me you took the A–18 Train."

The staff stiffened. "You mean he's in _that_?!" Hizashi pointed to the TV.

"Uh… Yeah. That's the one."

"_Goddamnit_ Problem Child!" Shouta couldn't fucking believe this kid's terrible luck. He muted the phone for a brief moment. "He's in that mess." He told the others.

"I'll inform Nezu." Cementoss said, running out the door.

"I'm coming along." Thirteen stated, looking at Shouta. They were an excellent rescue hero, and Shouta would take whatever help he could get, if he was being honest.

"Me too." Hizashi said. "Classes can be taught by someone else."

Shouta nodded as he unmuted the phone. "I'm on my way, _stay on the phone_."

"Uh… okay?" The kid sounded confused and disorientated. His tone was so different from the confident and assured tone he had during class, or even the quiet unsure voice he used when talking about bullying. There was an edge of detachment and uncertainty about it. If Shouta hadn't spent so much time around the kid, he probably wouldn't even have picked up on it. But he did. And it scared him.

"Listen to me. The train is in a very volatile state right now. Newscasters say it could blow—or fall depending on which car you're in—any minute. If you can, you need to find a way out. Heroes on the scene are mostly engaged in fighting the villains that caused this."

"Right… Uh, sensei? I'm also with another U.A. Student."

"_Shit._" He winced. He hadn't meant to curse into the phone… again. "Okay, are either of you injured?"

Shouta was already running out to the car. "I think he has a concussion. He sounds _really_ detached and _really_ out of it. He also says there's another U.A. Student with him. Inform Nezu, and have him see who's missing today." He told the other two heroes, who winced.

"Um… concussion for sure." Midoriya's voice filtered in through the phone. "I think… Dislocated shoulder… gimme a sec." Shouta hissed when he heard a distinctive pop. He did _not_ need to know that his student could relocate his own _shoulder_ so nonchalantly. "Okay, that's fixed. Um…" He heard someone—likely the other student—mutter something and Izuku replied with a chipper "Yeah, I know."

"You're giving me grey hairs, kid."

"What'd he do?" Hizashi asked as he drove like a madman, wheel clenched so hard his knuckles were white.

"Relocated his own shoulder." Shouta answered, causing them to wince.

"That's cool." _God, he's so out of it._ Shouta was beyond worried, now. He'd never heard Midoriya sound like this. Not even during or after USJ—and he'd been thrown into a _fountain_. "Okay, yeah concussion. I think that's the main one. Shinsou says he's fine, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's got one, too."

"Hold tight, Problem Child. We're on our way."

He didn't remember when he'd handed the phone off to Hizashi, but he must've because he soon found himself jumping from the car window with his Capture Weapon before it even rolled to a stop. He followed the billow of smoke right to the wreckage.

It was _bad_. "Eraserhead." Thirteen looked at him. "Mic says that Midoriya and Shinsou were in the eighth train car. It's one of the cars up there." They pointed to the building that had a car embedded in it, another hanging down. The other two cars had already fallen, likely killing all survivors that had been inside.

"The other heroes are already working on the grounded cars. We'll skip over to eight and nine." He decided. There were plenty of rescue heroes there, and from what he could see the eighth car was one that got mostly crushed at some point—likely the point of impact for derailing the train. Midoriya was _damn_ lucky he was still alive. So was Shinsou.

"Roger that." Thirteen affirmed as they ran over to the scene.

Shouta hated disasters like this. People were running everywhere, screaming and crying and making noises of despair as they realized loved ones were lost forever. He _hated_ it.

It reminded him of Shirakumo.

He shook his head as they got to work. All Might had the villains handled. They didn't need to worry about being interrupted. They made the hectic trek up the side of the building, which was thankfully not currently in use due to construction. At least he didn't have to worry about evacuating them, too. Shouta used his Capture Weapon to scale it from the outside, while Thirteen went through the inside. It took far longer than Shouta would've liked to reach the cars, but Thirteen was already cautiously dissolving the bits of rubble and train car they dared to try to create an exit for the survivors. It was risky—one wrong move, and Thirteen could end up accidentally dissolving one of the parts that kept the cars from falling and killing everyone.

Hizashi was working with Thirteen, dragging out as many survivors (and sometimes bodies) as he could.

But Shouta didn't have time to think about what his teammates were doing. He caught sight of movement in one of the car windows. And started to make his way over.

"Midoriya!" He called out.

"Sensei!" It was quiet, but Shouta heard it. He followed the sound to the window he'd caught movement in. Shouta carefully broke the glass and slipped inside. The car creaked ominously under his weight, but held.

There was blood and debris everywhere, but the two boys seemed to be in one piece. "Midoriya." He crouched down. He looked like hell. There was blood running down his face and Shouta couldn't tell how much of the blood on his uniform was his own, and how much was from the other passengers that weren't so lucky.

Shouta caught sight of a dead civilian. Hopefully Midoriya's concussion kept him from noticing that detail, because this poor kid's been through enough trauma. He didn't need to be stuck in a small space with a man with a caved in skull for almost an hour.

"You're Shinsou, right?" He took stock of the other child, who was sitting next to Midoriya. A boy, likely a first year, with purple hair and eyes. His bags reminded Shouta of his own, and he looked roughed up and shaken, but otherwise fine. He looked a hell of a lot better than Midoriya, that's for sure.

He nodded in affirmation. "Shinsou Hitoshi, class 1–C."

Shinsou was shaking a bit, obviously frightened and in a mild form of shock. It was a normal reaction to this kind of situation, and Shouta would've been much more worried had he been calm.

Speaking of which, Problem Child was _not_ shaking. He had a somewhat vacant look in his eye that briefly made Shouta wonder if he was in another flashback (it was a valid concern given the magnitude of the situation), but he seemed aware of his environment this time. His eyes tracked Shouta's movements as best they could, and he didn't seem to be reacting to any hallucinations of his past.

"It's okay, now. I'm here." Shouta quickly checked both boys for anything that would inhibit moving them. His student tensed a little under his touch. Once he'd ascertained that it was safe to move them, he gently picked them up, wrapping the two boys up in his Capture Weapon for protection and ease of movement. Luckily, they were both small and he could manage them both together.

Midoriya ran a hand over the material like he'd never seen it before. There was an odd and concerning expression on Midoriya's face, like he wasn't sure what was real. It did not sit right with Shouta _at all_.

"Did you find him?" Hizashi called out. Shouta was carefully making his way back out through the broken window he'd climbed through, and finding the handholds he'd used to climb over to the train. Shinsou clung to him a little tighter, likely afraid of falling, but Midoriya looked right at home at such heights. Another worry.

"Yeah! I've got him." Shouta reassured. "Midoriya, stay with me, okay? Don't fall asleep." He slowly climbed his way up to a window of the building and kicked it in. He wasted no time heading towards Thirteen and Hizashi.

"Mmm… mkay, Shou." He sounded like he was falling asleep, which was bad. "No sleeping. If I can't nap, neither can you. Shinsou, make _sure_ he doesn't fall asleep."

"R-right." The kid looked much better now that Shouta's feet were on solid ground. The purple-haired boy flicked Midoriya's nose, causing said boy to flinch back.

Midoriya made a sound of discontent, but his eyes were a little clearer. "Someone didn't get their coffee this morning." He looked at Shouta as he said it.

"No, I didn't." He answered with a frown. "Today sucks."

"You can say that again." Midoriya coughed a bit and Shouta winced, partially expecting to see blood. He was mildly relieved when there wasn't any.

He finally found Thirteen and Hizashi. There were several civilians around them, not all of them alive.

The train moaned again, louder this time as several snapping sounds were heard. "Watch out! It's falling!" Thirteen warned, and people covered their ears and head. Hizashi reached out towards the train, grabbing someone's hand at the last moment.

As the train fell and crashed to the ground with a massive boom, the Voice Hero grinned, lifting a young woman up and safely setting her down on solid ground.

"Mommy!" A young boy ran over, embracing the rescued woman with a loud sob. Hizashi smiled, and Shouta did so internally. It was reasons like this that pushed him to become a hero. Because if he could save just _one more_ person, the he would.

They lead the group of survivors (dragged or carried in some of their cases) back down to ground level.

Shouta finally stepped out into the sunlight. "Come on. All Might's already evacuated the other train cars." Thirteen explained. "Heroes are being asked to evacuate, too."

"Right." Shouta nodded as they quickly made their way towards the ambulances.

They'd just rounded the corner of a building when an explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet. He instinctively shielded Midoriya and Shinsou with his body, trying to protect the kids from anything that could worsen their condition. He didn't _think_ Shinsou was hurt, but better safe than sorry.

"You okay, Little Listener?" Hizashi asked, looking at their student with open concern.

"I'll be fine." He answered, a bit of a slur to his words. "'ve had worse. Just a concussion. Recov'ry G'rl should be fine."

"No, Problem Child." Shouta argued. "You're going to a _hospital_."

"Don't wanna. I'll miss school."

"Midoriya, missing school is not that big of an issue." Thirteen sighed, exasperated as they helped Shinsou over to an ambulance.

"I don't like hospitals." Midoriya argued back, a stubborn gleam to his eye that reminded Shouta strongly of Viridian.

"Too bad." Shouta sent him a mild glare. But there was a gleam of…_ something_ in Midoriya's eye. It wasn't quite fear, but it was something similar. He felt himself sigh. "Would it be better if I came with you?"

"…Yeah." Midoriya admitted.

He sighed and climbed into the ambulance with the kid.

**_Aizawa: Midoriya is safe. He was with a student named Shinsou Hitoshi, who obtained no visible injuries. I'm enroute to the hospital with Midoriya. Please have someone cover my classes (preferably not All Might). _**

**_Nezu: I'm glad he's safe. I'll be coming to visit, too. I think Kayama will be able to cover._**

**_Kayama: You got it. Make sure the tyke is okay, yeah? Keep us posted._**

**_Ishiyama: I'm glad he's all right. News footage made us think the worst. _**

**_Yamada: Well it was pretty damn rough. Lots of people didn't make it. I'll be back on campus soon, so I won't need a full-day sub._**

**_Nezu: Shinsou Hitoshi is the other student. General Education, class 1–C. Your class, I believe, Snipe?_**

**_Snipe: Yeah. I'd been wondering where he was, but it isn't his first absence. I'm glad he's safe. Kid's got a good heart with a strong thirst for heroics._**

**_Nezu: Aizawa, please keep us informed. _**

**_Aizawa: Of course._**

He locked his phone. He must've zoned out at some point, because before he knew it, he was sitting by his student's bedside in the hospital. Said Problem Child was still awake—albeit begrudgingly so. He kept glaring at the hospital like it had personally offended him.

"How're you feeling?" The kid startled a little bit, having been lost in his thoughts. He still looked a little out of it, but not nearly as bad as before.

"I'm… okay, I guess. Just a little disorientated."

"That's understandable."

"Thanks, sensei. For saving us."

"Try not to get into any more trouble." Shouta begged. "The Sports Festival is three days away, and I really don't want to see you in a hospital bed anytime before then. Or during. Or after."

Midoriya chuckled. "I have no intentions of landing myself in the hospital, sensei."

"Ah, that reminds me." Shouta spoke up. "We were unable to contact your mother regarding your hospital stay. And it seems the number on file is Hawks'. We need the number of your mother or legal guardian." The kid stiffened, and looked abruptly nervous—though he hid it well.

_That possible abuse case is looking more and more likely._ He internally frowned. Viridian would've told them, though… right?

_But Viridian's Quirkless…_ He realized, biting his tongue as he realized their mistake. Over 85% of Quirkless kids were abused, neglected, or abandoned. Viridian was likely no exception. He might not _realize_ that Midoriya was being abused if that was the case. Just like he hadn't known half the shit they'd explained to him.

For God's sake, they had to tell him that it was _wrong_ that he'd been consistently denied medical care for a good portion of his life! It was no wonder he hated hospitals.

He eyed Midoriya. Perhaps that was why the kid didn't want to go to a hospital alone. Was he afraid of being mistreated and neglected by the hospital staff? After seeing that manager at the movies (and she'd been _beyond_ fired when Shouta and Hizashi were through with her; she'd never find a job with the public again) he honestly wouldn't put it past them. It was one of the reasons why Shouta hadn't left the room.

"…fter…stival." His attention snapped back to the unusually quiet boy.

"What was that?"

"I said I'll tell you after the Sports Festival." Midoriya looked at his hands as he played with the sheets. The motion drew Shouta's attention to an old gunshot wound on the kid's left arm. The scar itched at his mind but for the life of him, he couldn't understand why.

"Does it have to wait until after the festival? Nezu's going to be coming by later, and I can ask Hizashi to join him?" If they could get answers sooner…

"I'm sorry, sensei." He smiled sadly. "I just… want to be a kid for a little bit longer. Is that okay? Just until after the festival."

"Be a… kid? You _are_ a kid." Despite his words, though, he couldn't help but notice Midoriya's eyes. They looked ancient. Like a jaded soldier who was still trapped in battles long passed. He couldn't help but think that those were definitely _not_ the eyes of a child.

"Please. I'll explain _everything_ after. I swear it. Just… not today. I…" Something flashed in the boy's eyes. A sort of confused pain. He gripped his left wrist, where he'd seen a small burn scar that honestly looked like more of a brand than Shouta would like to admit. "I can't mentally handle that today." He stated.

Shouta sighed. It was worth a shot, but he knew when to call it quits. "All right." He smiled, ruffling the boy's hair gently. The kid giggled a little, sending him a grateful smile. "You should be okay to rest for a bit. I'm going to grab some coffee."

"Promise you'll come back?"

"Promise."

He opened the door and nearly missed the tiny voice Midoriya used.

"Alive?"

Shouta turned to stare into dark green eyes. "Alive." He promised. The kid smiled and relaxed. A silent appreciation and relief in his expression. The hero left the room with an odd weight on his shoulders. The promise was heavier than he'd expected, but he fully intended to keep it.

_I'll always return alive, Problem Child. I won't break your trust._


	16. Chapter 16: UA Sports Festival

_**A/N: SURPRISE! It's an update! Bet you didn't see this one coming~! Today's update is a long one, which is why it took so long. I've never written the Sports Festival, so forgive me.  
That said, this chapter has a LOT of stuff going on. This is the longest chapter in this story yet, sitting at a nice comfy 13,558 words and 28 Microsoft Word pages. Phew! :D**_

_**Please stay safe during these uncertain times. Right now, work's been working me like a horse, so expect updates to be smattered here and there. One job (the one I like) has me M-F. The other job decided to schedule me EVERY FUCKING WEEKEND. so I now have a grand total of 0 days off in the foreseeable future. Fuck me.**_

_**My TikTok has reached over 1.6k! WOW! I never realized so many people would like my Aizawa cosplay! :D**_

_**I've pre-started two new bnha fics (and by pre-start, I mean jotting down the first few chapters that I'll later go back and rewrite into ACTUAL detailed chapters). One is called Instinct, a BnHA/Jurassic Park crossover where Izuku lives for 3 years on Isla Sorna. Featuring brother!Hawks and friend!Hatsume.  
The other is the Code Lyoko/BnHA crossover where Izuku went to Kadic Academy for two years before returning to Japan to attend U.A. :)**_

_**A new fic is getting closer and closer to being put up. It's a BnHA one called Hated by Life Itself, and features Dadzawa, Dadmic, and UncleTsukauchi! Mainly focused on UncleTsukauchi at this point, though. Izuku will still attend U.A., though. :) Oh yeah! And Izuku's got an immortality Quirk, did I forget to mention that?**_

_**Please enjoy, and let me know what you think~! Any fanart should be sent to aizawa email.c o m**_

_**FANART:  
Thank you to Sapling who drew the Green Nomu! You rock!**_

_**I'm sorry if I missed your fanart submission, I'm a scatterbrain and sometimes forget to eat. I tend to forget what I've already posted and what I haven't, so if I've missed yours, please PM me or email me to let me know and I'll put it up on the next chapter. *grins***_

* * *

Izuku was released from the hospital after only a few hours. His injuries looked worse than they were. The gash on his arm needed stitches, and the gash on his leg had been badly infected (likely the reason for the fever he'd developed while with Dabi in the First Run, and was also to blame for him being so out of it during the crash). Luckily, there'd been a nurse on duty with an antibiotic Quirk and she took care of the infection in an hour.

It hurt like a bitch, but it was better than spending the next few days holed up in the hospital. A quick trip to Recovery Girl thereafter with Nezu helped him recover completely. He was excused from his classes for the day, though, not that Izuku particularly minded. Despite his protests, he wasn't that worried about missing classes; he just didn't want to go to the hospital.

So here he was wandering around U.A.'s campus. Just because he didn't have to go to class didn't mean he wasn't going to explore. Besides, he made support items for a living in the First Run, and he was _itching_ to create a few new toys. He'd been scraping by as Viridian thus far on civilian-level goods and stuff he could snag from the dump he lived in, but broken and abandoned materials could only get him so far. If he was going to be prepared, he needed some _real_ support gear.

And there were only two people he trusted with his stuff—himself, and Hatsume Mei.

The girl had been a fellow inventor and friendly rival for him during the First Run. They hadn't necessarily been _close_, but they understood each other well enough.

And Izuku knew Mei well enough to know how to interact with her eccentric side. Once she realized he was going to make 'babies' with her, she'd accept pretty much whatever he wanted to make. Plus, her energy would help keep his mind off the confusion that happened earlier. He _really_ didn't want to question reality more than he already had today.

One mid-life crisis was enough for him, he didn't need a second one yet.

Izuku grinned at the permission slip he'd managed to talk Nezu into giving him. So long as Power Loader watched him, he was okayed to work on support items with Nezu's blessing. Though Izuku privately thought that the principal was just curious to see what his brilliant mind could cook up in the support workshops.

He loved that little mouse.

He was wandering around the Support Course's building (which was separate from the rest of the campus in the case of unexpected explosions) when he heard a distinctive _bang_!

Instinctively, Izuku fell into a defensive position, sai in hand and at the ready as he surveyed the area for danger. Then he abruptly realized that it was likely just a student dealing with volatile substances. But who would be stupid enough to—

"Hatsume." He grinned to himself and took off in the direction of the explosion.

Izuku cautiously pushed open the door to the classroom. Smoke was quickly dissipating due to the many fanned vents in the room (likely created for this express purpose) and Power Loader was glaring at a familiar pink-haired girl. They were the only two in the room, leading Izuku to recall how First Run Hatsume had once admitted to having her own lab at U.A. because other students kept complaining about her constant explosions.

Power Loader noticed him first. "Midoriya?" He blinked in surprise. "I thought you were excused for the day?"

"I am." He grinned. "But since I don't have classes, I thought I'd work on some support gear!" He handed Nezu's note over to Power Loader as Hatsume took an interest.

"I haven't seen you around the support course. Hero Course?"

"Yep. Class 1–A." Izuku grinned. "Midoriya Izuku. I've dabbled in support items in the past. If I hadn't made the Hero Course, I would've ended up here."

"Oh~ Do you want to see my babies?!"

"Sure, if you'll help me with mine." Her grin matched his as Power Loader _paled_.

"Please… _please_ don't blow anything up." He begged.

"We'll do our best!" Hatsume said with a cheerful grin.

"No promises." Izuku stated at the same time.

"God, help me."

* * *

Maijima Higari, better known as Power Loader, wasn't happy. Well, he kind of was, but at the same time he was royally annoyed. Higari typically had a hard enough time reigning in Hatsume, what with her propensity to cause an explosion every fifteen minutes or so, but he'd never expected to have to deal with Aizawa's Problem Child, too.

Midoriya wasn't as bad as Hatsume. No, he was _worse_. Hatsume was _thrilled_. The two set off some kid of volatile reaction every _five minutes_, and it was driving Higari up the wall. He'd been ready to kick Midoriya out after the first forty minutes, until he saw the contraption the kid had created. A fucking _ray gun_. An actual working ray gun.

It was then that he realized that as adept at heroism as Midoriya was, he was an even _better_ inventor. He'd kick-started a competition with Hatsume, much to Higari's horror. That'd been two hours ago.

Now, he was mostly hiding under his desk with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Aizawa could be angry with him later for letting Midoriya consistently blow himself up, but right now Higari needed to protect whatever sanity he had left.

"Look, Hatsume!" Midoriya's cheerful voice sounded. "Now I've got a ray gun, a Lightsaber, an electrified grappling gun, a sound-based knockout device, and a jetpack~!"

"Oh _please_! That's _child's play_!" Hatsume huffed, before listing off some of the stuff she'd made over the last two and a half hours.

"You know what would be _really_ cool?" Midoriya asked with a grin as Higari slowly peeked over the edge of his desk. _God, I'm too old for this. Maybe I should retire?_

"Oh? And what would that be, Greenie?"

Midoriya didn't say anything. Instead, he passed Hatsume a piece of paper that had the pink-haired girl raising an eyebrow.

"You really think something like this is possible?" Now, Higari was curious. Hatsume had been willing to try just about anything, but here she was skeptical.

"What, have ye so little faith?" Midoriya taunted. His face, hands, and arms were covered in soot and mild burns, and only the area around his eyes were clean from the goggles he'd been wearing.

"Teleportation?" Hatsume raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Teleportation." Midoriya's grin widened, teeth shining white against marred skin. "I had a feeling you'd be skeptical, so…" He pulled out two small disks. He put one on one end of the table and the other on Higari's _desk._ He may have sent Midoriya a glare that caused the kid to chuckle.

All the boy's timidness that he'd witnessed up to this point was gone from the moment he'd walked into the support shop. This was a side of the boy he was sure even _Aizawa_ hadn't seen. Perhaps he'd invite the Heroics teacher down here some time so he wouldn't suffer this alone.

He cautiously backed away from the device. It might explode, after all. Midoriya powered on the two items, causing three small metal rings to float in a blue light. Midoriya then casually tossed a small rubber bouncy ball into the device on the table.

Hatsume and Higari watched in slight awe as it disintegrated, only for the particles to reassemble within the device on Higari's desk. The ball was misshaped and looked more like a miniature spiked mace, but the particles had _definitely_ teleported.

Now, Hatsume's eyes gleamed with something that terrified Higari to his _core._ "Well, then, Mido-chan. Let's get to work, shall we?"

"Let's."

Higari internally _screamed_.

* * *

Shouta groaned as he sat down at the table. Another meeting, though this time it was one _he'd_ set up. Midoriya had agreed to talk about the hero thing he'd mentioned at the movies, and he felt that it was information that the staff should hear. The kid had agreed to it, but the heroics teacher still felt bad.

They'd been having meetings at _least_ once a week this year. Normally, meetings were monthly unless something happened, but this year had already been _beyond_ hectic.

When Power Loader walked into the room, looking mildly traumatized, followed by a _soot-covered_ Problem Child, Shouta actually let his head hit the table. "Do I want to know?" He was going to cry. He swore to god, if his Problem Child had gotten hurt _again_, he was going to lose it.

"Midoriya and Hatsume are terrifying together." Power Loader shuddered. "Your student is an incredible inventor, but he needs to tone down the explosions."

Shouta's brows furrowed. Didn't Midoriya hate explosions? Wasn't that a trigger for him? No, that's right. It was the silence thereafter and buildings collapsing. So smaller explosions that he controlled himself might not set him off.

Midoriya looked at Power Loader with a raised eyebrow. For the first time, Shouta saw a confidence in Midoriya that bordered on cockiness. It was a good change from the timid and occasionally traumatized boy he'd gotten used to seeing.

"I'd like to see you make a working Lightsaber without blowing it up at least _once._ Do you have any idea how volatile those things are?! And don't get me _started_ on the port-machines!" Midoriya crossed his arms with an annoyed huff.

"Port machines?" Nezu leaned forward in interest.

"Hatsume and I are working on teleportation machines. We've got the basic concept down, but about 30% of the particles seem to get lost between Port A and Port B. The further apart they are, the more are lost. Plus, we're still trying to figure out a way to reform the object in the same image it originally was. The particles can't seem to remember where they're supposed to be, so it's taking a lot of trial and error to figure out how to fix it. Though I wonder if it might be better to try to tear a hole in the fabric of space instead, but that could cause a myriad of problems… if it's treated like Kurogiri's Quirk, though… that's got some merit… but that wouldn't be instant teleportation… His Quirk opens a connection between Point A and Point B… it doesn't deconstruct the particles of an object or person, and he's implied that there's space between the two tears, thusly a pocket between the portals… pockets… spatial pockets… pocket… dimensions? Maybe something that can be utilized for storage? There's an idea. If it's easy enough to tear through the fabric of space, then perhaps one wouldn't need to open a second portal to store items? And would time even pass in that stored space? Or would a form of stasis exist? But then there's the issue of accessing that same spatial pocket consistently…"

Midoriya trailed off into incoherent mutters as the room stared at the boy in shock as Nezu grinned exuberantly. For the first time, Shouta saw the mind of a powerful inventor and analyst in his student. The boy was scribbling furiously in a small green notebook as he continued to mutter under his breath.

"Oh! S-sorry… I just get caught up in my ideas sometimes." Midoriya abruptly apologized, putting the notebook away. Shouta watched him melt back into the familiar somewhat timid boy he'd grown so protective of. "A-actually, if I hadn't gotten into the Hero course, Support was my second choice." That was an interesting tidbit of information. Maybe Shouta would let Power Loader have his student more often.

As if sensing his thoughts, said teacher sent Shouta a glare, as if daring him to act on it. _Don't test me, Maijima. I still haven't forgiven you for last April Fool's._

"At any rate, we can discuss this in our class later, Midoriya." Nezu smiled, and the Problem Child smiled back. "Now, Aizawa said you mentioned being discriminated against by a hero?"

"Er… yeah." Midoriya admitted, and many staff members straightened their posture. "More than once, actually." He scratched the scar Shigaraki had given him. "Uh… I think the biggest one was during this villain attack when I was… twelve? I can't remember clearly, sorry. Um… My school had caught on fire in the midst of a nearby villain attack. I think Endeavor had caused the fire, but he wasn't part of the active rescue efforts. School had been in session, and some kids had locked me in an old unused classroom as a bad prank. So when the building caught fire, I was stuck and alone. Well, a hero was running down the hall with a couple of other kids he'd rescued and I called out for help. I remember seeing his silhouette at the door, but then I heard one of the other kids out me as Quirkless. He left and didn't come back."

"You mean he _left you_ to burn alive?" Midnight choked out. Shouta felt himself shake a little with rage.

"That's right." Midoriya said with a nod, as if this was _normal_. "I really didn't think much of it at the time. Instead I hid under the teacher's desk, which was luckily reinforced enough to shield me when the ceiling collapsed."

Well, that could contribute to why the Problem Child disliked fire so much. But something was wrong, here. He spoke about the event as if he was discussing some game he'd played at recess as a kid, not like the traumatic event it no doubt had been for the boy.

If nearly burning alive was something this nonchalant for him, what the _hell_ had the kid so traumatized that he outright refused to talk to Hound Dog about it?! Shouta wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know anymore (he did, he needed to know what his Problem Child had gone through). The thought was terrifying.

"Didn't think much of it…?" Thirteen echoed. "Midoriya, do you know who that hero was?"

"No, but I recognized his voice as a hero. I just can't remember anymore. The cameras might've caught him before they burned… I think they were hooked up to a wireless system."

"This was Aldera, right?" Nezu had a sharp gleam to his eye as Midoriya nodded.

"Yeah, my first year there."

"Rest assured, I'll find the video surveillance. He won't be doing that again." Nezu said, and Midoriya relaxed with a smile.

"Thank you. I'd hate for him to leave another kid in a situation like that. Not everyone's as lucky as I am."

A moment later, a pink-haired girl opened the door, poking her soot-covered face into the room. "Mido-chaaan~" She whined, and Midoriya tilted his head.

"Hatsu-chan? I thought I told you I had a meeting."

"But I think I've had a breakthrough on Project Lens!"

"Really?! Did you manage to fix the overheating portion or the glowing problem?"

"The glowing, it still gets too hot if used for too long, but I'm working on it…"

"Go on, Midoriya. Unless you've something else you need to tell us, you're free to go." Nezu chuckled as Midoriya bolted out of the room.

"Good to see he's got a friend." Shouta smiled softly.

"You mean he doesn't have any in your class?" Hizashi frowned.

"He's got friendly acquaintances, but I wouldn't necessarily call them friends. He's such an introvert, and after USJ, he seemed to pull away from them even more. It seems that Hawks and this Hatsume are his only actual friends. I've never seen him act so familiarly with anyone else."

"That's concerning." Cementoss made a face.

"On another note, for those of you who haven't heard, Hanatabi was confirmed by both myself and Detective Tsukauchi as the culprit for both the flower and the laced bracelet. He's been expelled and blacklisted from all hero schools. Legal action has also been taken."

"Swift and merciless, how like you." Shouta shook his head, but he agreed with the actions the principal had taken.

"Now, the Sports Festival starts this Thursday, so I'm going to go over all the added security measures I've taken…"

* * *

Izuku leaned against the window. Keigo hadn't let him take another train since the accident on Monday, so he'd insisted on driving him to and from school (and occasionally flying him to and from school, depending on how late they were running). Thus far, nobody had seen the two of them together, except Hatsume (and, obviously, the teachers). Mei, as she's told him to call her, was quickly becoming a good friend of his. She was a lot more outgoing and spontaneous than she was back in his timeline, and he suspected that to be due to the isolation she felt from her peers during her time at U.A.

Well, that was that problem solved, at least. Shinsou was also another unexpected variable. The kid had come up to him on Tuesday during lunch and the two of them ended up talking the whole time. Izuku tended to avoid his classmates for multiple reasons. He realized that they didn't really care about his Quirkless status, but at the same time, they sort of babied him. Plus, it was _weird_ to hang out with young kids when he was essentially half a century old. Shinsou felt more like a kid brother, and Hatsume was someone he knew in his original timeline, so they were somewhat different.

Perhaps that was why he enjoyed hanging around Aizawa and Naomasa so much.

"Be careful out there, Zukkun." Keigo said as he parked. "I don't want to get another call from Recovery Girl asking for your mother."

"Well, you're my mother _hen_, does that count?"

"I'm gonna show you how much of a mother _hen_ I can be, if you don't knock it off." Keigo sent him a mild glare, causing Izuku to laugh. "But more than that, have fun, 'kay kiddo?"

"I'll have you know I'm not a _kid_." Izuku huffed, offended. He got out of the car as the two of them started walking towards the Sports Festival.

"You're a kid right now." Keigo smirked, ruffling his hair.

"OI!" Izuku protested, pouting. "Do you think it's fair if I go all out in this thing? I mean… I've got way more experience than these kids."

"Go for it. Win this, Izuku." Keigo grinned. "Show 'em what you're made of."

"All right, all right. You know when to head out, then?"

"Of course. You've explained the plan to me about a million times. Don't worry, Zukkun, everything'll turn out okay."

"Forgive me for being a pessimist." Izuku deadpanned. "Apparently my optimism died with the majority of the human population."

"Yeah, say that a little louder, I don't think Power Loader heard you over in the arena." Izuku snorted.

"It's cute that you still think I care what people think."

"Nah, cute is you trying to get out of your vigilante outfit at six in the morning on twenty minutes of sleep." Keigo laughed as Izuku recalled the time he'd nearly headed out to U.A. with his Viridian mask still on.

"That was _one time_." He defended, causing Keigo to laugh harder.

Izuku and Keigo fell quiet as they approached the check-in area for the event. The lady looked at Izuku and Keigo with a raised eyebrow. Keigo just flashed his Hero License, as heroes were allowed entrance for the purpose of scouting, while Izuku passed over his Student ID.

"Good luck in the festival, Midoriya-san!" She smiled, making Izuku blink. "I'm rooting for you, personally. My mother's Quirkless. Go show 'em what you're made of!" She beamed, and Izuku found himself grinning back exuberantly. He also saw her giving Keigo an appreciative smile. Hm… maybe Hawks would gain more fans?

They had to go their separate ways once inside, but Keigo gave Izuku one more hug of reassurance, and a feather for good luck (and maybe to listen in for trouble, as the winged man could read the vibrations of his feathers and translate them into words).

"Midoriya!" Iida came over with a stern and sharp hand chop. "You're nearly late! We've been worried!"

"Sorry, I had to say goodbye to my brother." Izuku smiled. "He's watching me today, so we came together."

"Be that as it may, the festival will be starting soon! Come on, our rooms are this way!" He was quickly led down the twisting and mildly confusing hallways until Iida finally stopped before a door.

Izuku entered to find his entire class there. He smiled and waved at those who greeted him before taking a seat. He'd changed into his gym uniform at home, opting to keep his scars a secret from his classmates. He always changed where nobody could see him. Though there wasn't much he could do for the scars on his arms, but his classmates had seen those enough times to learn not to ask about them.

"Good, everyone's here." Aizawa's voice made him turn to find the exhausted (and still bandaged) teacher leaning against the doorframe. Izuku idly noted that the man should have his bandages off very soon, likely within the week. Which was a good thing, because he was sick and tired of doing Eraserhead's patrols. Even if the man was back on active-duty, Viridian still did half of his patrols to encourage the idiot to _rest_. The green-haired boy was ready to hand all the patrols back to his teacher, because he was sporting even darker bags below his eyes than before, and that was _saying_ something.

At this point, Izuku had taken to sleeping on the weekends. He was just glad that U.A. had homeschool days on Saturdays instead of normal school days like most of Japan. Apparently Nezu had realized that six days of intense physical and/or academic training was too much, even for General Education, and changed the policy as soon as he took up the position of Principal. A lot of people had been skeptical at first, but Saturdays were 'open days', meaning students could use school facilities such as gyms, training areas, and libraries.

After adopting this policy, U.A.'s grade point average skyrocketed. Turned out working your students into the ground wasn't the best way to encourage academic growth. Huh. Go figure.

Izuku only half-listened as Aizawa gave them something that he wouldn't exactly call a pep talk. "Oh, and Midoriya, as the one who took First Place in the Entrance Exams, you'll be expected to open the festival." Aizawa added as an afterthought. Izuku let his head hit the table with a resounding _thunk_.

"Damnit sensei, you couldn't give me more warning?" He groaned, but he knew Aizawa was already gone.

"Midoriya." Todoroki stated firmly, drawing his attention. "Frankly speaking, in terms of power, I believe I'm stronger than you." If Izuku wasn't used to how Dabi had been at first, he might've been offended.

"Okay."

"But you've proven yourself to be more than you first appear. I'm going to defeat you."

"Do whatever you want." Izuku saw the flash of surprise in the dual-haired boy's eyes. "But I'm going to give this festival my _all_. Are _you_, Todoroki?" He challenged back, making the room hold their breath.

Before anyone could do anything, the call went out for them to head towards the arena.

"…CLASS 1–A!" Present Mic announced after adding in something about their villain encounter. Izuku was somewhat disappointed that the blond didn't add on anything special for the other courses. _Well that's biased as hell._

Iida nudged him gently, and gestured to the stage where Midnight was holding the mic out to him. Oh, he must've zoned out a bit. Keigo was probably snickering in the stands.

He took a deep breath and took the stage. He'd never spoken in front of so many people before, and _never_ on Live TV. He hoped that nobody could see his hands shaking.

"First off, I want to acknowledge _all_ of my peers. Yes, my class had a villain encounter, but that doesn't make the other courses' experiences any less valid or important. Everyone is equal here." He started, and he saw several appreciative looks from the other courses. "Secondly." He found a camera and looked right into it. "This is a message to everyone at home. Those of you who dream of becoming something that everyone says you can't become. To those of you who are weak, powerless, _Quirkless_. Do not give in to the darkness. There will always be a light so long as you chase it. Give it everything you have, and never stop running. _You_ are the one with the power to rewrite the future; never let someone else have that control. If a door is slammed in your face, then break the window. And know this…" He grinned. "My name is Midoriya Izuku. And I am Quirkless." He heard the crowd mutter and gasp at his bold proclamation. "And here… _today_… I will prove to the world, that Quirkless is _not_ worthless! Dreams _are_ achievable! So to those watching, please enjoy the show. And to my competitors and fellow students, let's all Go Beyond!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" He shouted with over half the student body. With a grin and a cheering crowd at his back, he handed the microphone back to Midnight and hopped off the stage.

Once he was back beside his peers, Izuku let out a shaking breath. "Wow, Midoriya! I didn't know you could be so inspiring!" Uraraka grinned.

"I felt like I was going to throw up. There's so many _people_." His gaze found Keigo who gave him a big thumbs up.

"Nice job Izu-chan~!" Mei grinned as she skipped over. Several 1–A members eyed her suspiciously, as Izuku grinned back.

"Mei-chan!" Izuku bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet. He could _feel_ Power Loader's shudder from here. "Did you bring our babies today?" He thought he heard a few people choke, but that wasn't really his concern. Though Todoroki's face _was_ funny.

"Of _course_! Though I'm the only one allowed to use 'em."

"I know, I know." Izuku waved her off easily. "But I'm excited to see them perform! Did you bring the jetpack?!"

"Psh! Who do you take me for?! Of _course_ I brought the jetpack! _And_ the wondershield."

"See, this is why _I_ should name things." Izuku sighed. "Wondershield? _Really_?"

Mei opened her mouth to reply, when he noticed that the first event had been decided. He smirked. "Mei. What'dya say to a little show-and-tell?"

"If you can make it into the final round, I'll tell you who the best… showman would be."

"I knew I loved you for a reason."

"Break it up, gearheads." Shinsou sighed as he came over. "And here I thought you two would be able to control yourselves in public."

"Control? What's that?" Izuku tilted his head.

"It's something Power Loader wished he had over us in the lab." Mei nodded sagely.

"Just shut up, we're about to start." Shinsou shook his head. "And good luck, you two. As my only friends, I hope to see you on the other end of that finish line…" he smirked as Midnight called for the start. "EATING MY DUST!" Shinsou shot off like a bullet.

Izuku laughed as he bolted forward, jumping over the initial icy blast Todoroki sent out as he ran along the walls in a way that was familiar to him as Viridian.

He tuned out Present Mic's announcements, vaguely recalling the course and following events from the First Run. _So… yep. Giant robots. Then a pitfall and then the minefield, if I remember correctly… though there was something about first place…_

Izuku hadn't been allowed to bring anything with him. But he may or may not have gotten Momo to agree to create a small sword for him in exchange for a cookie recipe that he'd purposefully gotten the girl hooked on. Ah, bribery. A formidable foe.

He brandished the blade with a grin as Present Mic cried out in surprise.

"And Class 1–A's Midoriya Izuku somehow has a sword?! I thought Hero Course students couldn't bring in weapons?!"

"He didn't bring it in, it was an item created by the Quirk of Yaoyorozu Momo, of Class 1–A." Aizawa explained. "If you paid attention, you'd know that." Izuku snickered. He loved Shouta's sass.

Izuku _easily_ cut down a Zero Pointer. Honestly, he held back a bit in the Entrance Exams, not wanting Shouta—who he'd known would be watching closely—to draw any real parallels between himself and Viridian. But now, considering he was going to explain himself after the festival, it really didn't matter much.

He privately wondered if Nezu and Aizawa would let him keep his Provisional License. He hoped so. It'd break his heart to have it taken away, now.

The pitfall was laughable. He didn't slow down in the slightest as he continued running across the wire. He'd faced farther drops on the edges of skyscrapers as Viridian, and landing on the ledges beneath windows was a very hard-earned skill—he had the scars to prove it.

"Holy crap! Midoriya Izuku just _flies_ by on the Pitfall! Look at him, he's not even slowing down! What _is_ this kid?! And he's not the only one, either! Todoroki Shouto of Class 1–A still holds the lead as current Second Place Bakugo Katsuki of 1–A flies over the obstacle like it isn't even there!"

Izuku grinned. Todoroki and Bakugo were ahead of him, which was the plan. He wanted them to get ahead. He had a plan, after all. Once he reached the mines, he started digging. They were small enough blasts on their own, but together? They'd pack one hell of a punch. And Izuku wasn't a support maker for nothing. He disassembled a couple of them quickly, creating a small sled-like platform for him to hold on to.

"What is Midoriya doing? He's falling behind." Mic warned, but Izuku smirked. Now, if he was a _normal_ support-inclined fifteen-year-old boy, he might just jump onto a pile of volatile mines and pray for the best.

But Izuku isn't a normal fifteen-year-old boy. He's a _time-traveling_ fifteen-year-old boy with PhD in computer science and a long history of making support items for a living. There's nothing normal about him. So he'd already calculated the trajectory and best angle to jump onto the pile. And he _may_ have deactivated the safety on the mines that control the output of the blast. _Whoops._

He grinned, knowing that the cameras would be able to read his lips, even if he did speak in English. "Yippie-ki-yay motherfucker." And he jumped.

* * *

"I'm going to kill him." Shouta muttered to himself as he watched Midoriya soar through the sky like a rocket. The blast shook the stadium, and he knew right there that the kid had somehow bypassed the safety features on the mines. Even piled together, they should never emit a blast _that_ strong. If the kid didn't seem to know what he was doing, Shouta would be legitimately concerned for the boy's physical health. Well, more than he already was.

"WHAT?! MIDORIYA IZUKU IS FLYING ACROSS THE FINAL OBSTACLE! AMAZING! HE PILED THE MINES TOGETHER TO CREATE A LARGER BLAST! Don't try this at home, kids!"

"Can you just shut up for once?" Shouta glared. It was annoying, being trapped in a soundproof booth next to one of the _loudest _men on the _planet_. Even with earplugs it was giving him a migraine. Why did he have to do this again?

"I'm the announcer! It's my job." Hizashi looked very satisfied. Shouta made sure his husband's hands were_ away_ from the red button before he spoke.

"I love your voice, I really do. But it's a little loud and it's giving me a headache. Think you can tone it down a little?"

"All right, Shou… Sorry." Hizashi risked a quick peck on the cheek that had Shouta scowling in embarrassment.

"Zashi… we're in _public_."

"Relax a little, Shou~ Not like anyone's paying attention to the announcing booth when there's _that_ kind of action going on down there… Besides; it looks like the Little Listener's taking first place." He smirked before clicking the microphone back on. "AAAAND FIRST PLACE GOES TO MIDORIYA IZUKU!"

The crowd cheered, though several jeered. He glared at them, wishing he could say something about it, but right now he couldn't. He couldn't coddle the boy. He'd announced himself Quirkless on live TV all on his own—and that'd given Shouta and the rest of the staff a heart attack. They hadn't expected the boy to announce it, and had planned on implying that he had an intelligence Quirk of some kind.

But he supposed it was the logical decision, in the end. It wasn't something that could be hidden for long, and while he was sure the kid had been scared shitless, he looked perfectly calm—almost challenging. It was as if he was daring the world to shove him down so he could prove them wrong.

And he _was_ proving the world wrong. While his actions had been shocking, Shouta knew that his announcement was going to garner _tons_ of support from people who had weak Quirks, or no Quirks. People like Midoriya and Viridian.

Speaking of… he glanced down at his phone.

**_ViridianChaos: Midoriya's got guts, saying what he said on National Television. _**

**_Dadzawa: National? You do realize that the U.A. Sports Festival is a _global_ event, right? It's mostly a big deal in Japan, true, but people from all over the world tune in._**

**_ViridianChaos: … come again?_**

**_ShadowSlayer: Hahahahahahahhahahhahahahhahahahahahahahahaha_**

**_ViridianChaos: SHAY! NOT COOL! YOU KNEW AND DIDN'T TELL ME?! _**

**_Fury: I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like you're in the festival._**

**_ViridianChaos: Something tells me the kid didn't know._**

**_Scream: I'm sure he didn't. We didn't want to freak him out too badly, so we never bothered to correct it. It's why we didn't tell him he'd be opening the festival until about five minutes before hand. _**

**_ViridianChaos: That's cruel. Couldn't give him time to form a speech?_**

**_Dadzawa: He did fine. I don't see what you're complaining about. Speaking of, are you attending, or watching? _**

**_Scream: Yeah, I'd love to meet you! Come join us for the show in the announcer's booth! I'm sure the crowd would love a surprise guest, especially from such a new and popular hero! _**

**_ViridianChaos: Actually, I'm streaming it on my phone. I'm out of town for a little bit, got some leads in Hosu to look into._**

**_Dadzawa: Hosu?_**

**_Fury: That's new, what kinds of leads. Wait… didn't you mention Hosu to me before?_**

**_ViridianChaos: Yeah, I had you implement the buddy system over there._**

**_Tsuragamae: I'm actually in Hosu, as well. The Chief over here is taking a well-earned vacation, so I'm covering for a couple of weeks. Drop in some time and have some lunch with me. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Will do. I'm actually looking into rumors of Stain. _**

Shouta startled.

**_Dadzawa: Stain?! As in the Hero Killer that nearly _killed you_ several months ago?!_**

**_ViridianChaos: Yep! That's the one~! _**

**_Scream: Wait, you've met him?! Are you going in alone?!_**

**_ViridianChaos: I've asked a few other heroes to help out, I'm not stupid or suicidal, thanks. And I've given them all SOS badges with built-in trackers. If anyone runs into him, the signal will go out immediately and alert local heroes and police. _**

**_Dadzawa: You've thought this out. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Of course I have. He almost killed me once. I'm only alive because he _let_ me live. Guy's got some pretty hard-core ideals with determination of steel. He won't come quietly. If I remember correctly, he can paralyze people by ingesting their blood._**

**_Scream: Creepy. That explains why there's rarely signs of struggle, though. _**

**_ViridianChaos: I'll let you guys get back to announcing. Intermission's almost over, and I would hate to keep you. _**

**_Dadzawa: Please check in with us often. I don't like the thought of you chasing after Stain._**

**_ViridianChaos: Will do. _**

**_ShadowSlayer: I'll keep you guys posted, no worries._**

Somehow, Shouta wasn't convinced.

At any rate, the second round was starting—the cavalry match. He smirked when Problem Child's points were announced, but paled when he paired with Hatsume and Shinsou. Their fourth player was Tokoyami, a good mid-to-long range fighter. Shouta was interested to see what the plan was.

Despite what he expected, Midoriya did _not_ keep the headband on himself, but gave it to Shinsou instead. Shinsou became the rider, while Tokoyami was the horse. Hatsume and Midoriya were the flanks, and Midoriya was quick to break off from the formation and go out to attack other teams.

He grinned. The kid was fast enough on his own to snatch headbands and occasionally knock riders off, disqualifying teams, while Tokoyami and Hatsume were plenty to keep a solid defense. Especially since Hatsume's inventions got them airborne.

It was a fairly solid strategy, and Shouta found himself impressed at the speed with which Midoriya moved. In fact, sometimes Shouta lost sight of the kid, even though he was sure he hadn't looked away. He was vaguely reminded of Viridian.

A thought suddenly occurred to him. Did Midoriya_ know_ Viridian? Were they perhaps related? Now that he was really looking for it, it was clear as day. Midoriya's movements were identical to Viridian's. Was… was Midoriya Viridian's _son_?! The man could certainly be old enough to have kids, but one Midoriya's age?

But it made sense. The way Midoriya was secretive about his living arrangement, and his reluctance to let anyone meet his parents. And Viridian's reports were too damn detailed. There's no way the man could learn that much from just _watching_. No, it had to be something like this. Viridian was either Midoriya's father or his uncle (possibly brother?). There was really no other explanation. Plus, Quirklessness could run in a family, so it'd make even _more_ sense, in that case. Not to mention the fact that Viridian—for whatever ungodly reason—wanted Shigaraki's head on a silver platter. And Midoriya seemed to have a similar dislike for the man… had he, perhaps, killed someone dear to them?

Shouta shook his head. There was no point in over thinking this right now. Maybe Midoriya's explanation after the festival would help shed some light on things. For now, he'd just have to wait. He'd inform Tsukauchi of his suspicions later.

He smirked when the second round finished with Midoriya not only keeping his headband, but nearly stealing Todoroki's as well, causing the boy to instinctively activate his fire.

Oh, today would be an interesting day indeed.

* * *

"Midoriya. We need to talk."

Izuku wasn't sure what he was expecting when Todoroki called him to a private location to speak. He certainly hadn't been expecting the kid to dump his entire life story on him. Quirk Marriage, huh? _Poor Touya… that explains a lot._

"So what'dya want me to do about it?" Izuku leaned against the wall, and Todoroki glared.

"You're saying you don't care? I'm not expecting you to do anything."

"I'm not saying I don't care, I'm asking you why you told me. You act like there's something you want."

"I want you to answer this honestly. Are you Viridian's secret love child?"

Izuku choked for a moment in shock before laughing at the absurdity of the statement. Was he his own love child? Ha! Keigo would bust a gut, too.

"S-sorry, that just really caught me off-guard. I thought you were going to ask me something serious." Izuku wiped away a tear. "No, I'm not Viridian's kid. Though I do know the guy." He smirked.

"I see…"

"Todoroki." Izuku said as the kid started to walk away. He paused. "If you ever need a safe place to stay, you can crash with me. My place isn't the best, per se, but it's safer than staying with an abuser. I know Endeavor can't be treating you right. You or your siblings. I've got a friend with a place to crash, too. He won't ask many questions, and knows how to keep a secret." He scribbled something down and handed it over to the kid. "My number, if you need to reach me."

"…Why?"

"Because you need help."

"I need no one's help." He glared.

Izuku stared at him for a long moment before Todoroki turned and walked away. He sighed and went back to the eating area. He sat down beside Shinsou and Mei as the two argued about something he wasn't quite in the headspace to comprehend.

"There you are! I was worried!" Mei huffed. "You need to eat more!"

"She's right, you know. You're really skinny."

"Like you're one to talk." Izuku snorted.

"Yeah, that's coming from _me_." Shinsou crossed his arms.

"Ladies, ladies, please." Keigo sat down across from them, and Shinsou and Mei immediately went quiet. Several nearby 1–A students also became hushed. They obviously hadn't expected to see the Number 3 hero here.

"The only lady I see here is you." Izuku snarked back without missing a beat. He saw Iida stand up to reprimand him when Keigo snorted in amusement.

"Well, you _do_ call me mother hen."

"Is that _chicken_ on your plate?!" Izuku gasped in mock horror. "Keicchan! A cannibal?!"

"Oh, haha." Keigo rolled his eyes. "That's the pot calling the kettle black, I see a steaming pile of broccoli right there on _your_ plate, Zukkun." He poked his fork towards the green pile of goodness.

"And I happily consume the tiny trees covered in delicious garlic butter." Izuku grinned, popping one in his mouth.

"W-wait, you _know_ Hawks?!" Shinsou blurted out.

"Yep~" Izuku grinned. "Keicchan, this is Shinsou and Mei, my friends. Mei, Shinsou, this is Keigo, my brother in all but blood."

The two gaped for a long moment, and Izuku was beyond amused when Iida was frozen with his mouth hanging open in shock. He also thought he saw Todoroki muttering to himself about 'Hawks' and 'brothers'.

_Cool. So he's a conspiracy theorist. Awesome._

Izuku may or may not have stolen a chicken wing off Keigo's plate when he wasn't looking.

After that, conversation seemed to pick back up, this time with Keigo joining in. It was only towards the end of their lunch break that Bakugo, of all people, approached him.

"We need to talk."

"Well, isn't this a familiar phrasing?" Izuku sighed. What was up with people and dragging him off today?

Regardless, he followed along, mostly out of curiosity. Bakugo led him into a small side-room, and Izuku tensed, preparing for a fight if need be. "You know, if you wanted a one-on-one, you could just wait until the finals."

"I'm not here to fight you." Bakugo said, looking oddly calm. "I…" He swallowed hard before glancing around, making sure they were alone.

Then Bakugo got down on his knees. Izuku blinked once. Twice. He pinched himself and bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. Nope, this… was fucking _real_.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly, as if afraid of Izuku's reaction. "I… I was fu– I was wrong." It seemed he was trying not to curse, either. A valiant effort.

"Wrong?"

"To _bully_ you. Damnit! I… I was just like _her_." He realized abruptly that Bakugo was _crying_. That _Kacchan_ was _crying_. "I… I can't believe I was ever like that, but… every time you looked at me with those eyes, I thought you were looking _down_ on me, but now I realize… you were never looking down on me. You were _afraid_ of me. What the hell kind of hero can I be if I only hurt other people?! I should've been _protecting_ you, not _hurting_ you." He looked up at Izuku, eyes shining brightly with tears. "I know I can't ever apologize enough for what I've done… for what I've said. But… IZUKU!" Izuku startled at his _name_ coming out of Bakugo's mouth for the first time since they were _five_. "I promise!" Bakugo's voice broke as tears flowed. "I _swear it_… I'll become a hero that inspires others to be strong… for all the _right_ reasons. To be strong enough to protect the ones who need protecting. I'm still aiming for number one… but… that can wait. That will always be there for me to reach for. But people… people won't. I don't want anyone to put someone through what I put you through. I _vow_ to become a better person. I don't know how, yet. But I'll figure it out. Somehow…"

He stared. This was something he never thought he'd ever see. He blinked a couple times to clear his vision as tears ran down his own face. He kneeled down on the floor next to the blond.

"Kacchan." Red eyes widened in surprise at a nickname he never expected to hear again. A nickname Izuku never expected to _use_ again. "It's been a while." He smiled a bit, reaching out gently and wiping away some tears from the startled blond's face.

"Y-yeah… It has, Kuzu."

Izuku chuckled at the old name. When they were kids, Kacchan had had trouble saying Izuku's name, and often mixed up 'Izuku' with 'ikuzo', meaning 'let's go', something Kacchan had said to him a lot when he wanted to go play and Izuku was taking too long. Eventually, due to childish mispronunciation, Kacchan decided that 'Kuzu' was close enough and started calling Izuku that.

If he hadn't heard Bakugo call him by his given name since he was pronounced officially Quirkless at five, he hadn't heard the old nickname since they were about _four_. He'd almost forgotten it, if he was being honest.

"I'm not saying it's right. Because it's not. And there are a lot of things I can't forgive you for. But…" Izuku looked at him… _really_ looked. "If you follow through with this, then that's enough for me." He held out a hand, just like he had all those years ago at the bridge.

This time, Kacchan took it without hesitation. "C-can I still call you Kuzu?" He asked, cheeks tinged a light red. Izuku chuckled.

"Only if I can still call you Kacchan."

Kacchan's smile was light and carefree as he gave a small laugh. A laugh that Izuku was quite sure the blond hadn't made in nearly a decade, if the startled look on the boy's face was any indication.

Izuku grinned. "Come on. We've got a festival to finish."

"Yeah. Don't think I'm going to lose to you, Nerd." He teased, but the old jab didn't have the same venom it used to.

"You're calling _me_ the nerd? Mr. bedtime's 8 sharp with no excuses?" Izuku lightly teased back, earning a friendly shoulder-bump from the boy.

_Huh. Amazing… I never thought I could ever change the timeline _this_ much. Maybe Kacchan won't die bitter and alone this time. _

_This time, he won't become a Nomu._

* * *

Keigo had been enjoying the festivities, but all good things had to come to an end, and he had a promise to keep. He'd wanted to stay for the whole thing, but that wasn't an option. He was currently flying to Hosu, en route to the general area Izuku had pointed him in.

According to his charge, sometime this afternoon Ingenium would accidentally run into the Hero Killer, Stain. He'd be gravely injured and end up paralyzed from the waist down.

Keigo wouldn't let that happen. Izuku had been more than reluctant to let him go off and fight Stain himself. He supposed that knowing that the other man would survive vs. the unknown risk of his _brother_ possibly dying was something to be concerned about. But Keigo reminded Izuku that they were heroes. The risk came with the job, and he couldn't—_wouldn't_—stand idly by when he could help somehow.

Obviously, any anonymous tips would be treated with either a ton of suspicion or outright rejected as a bad prank. This meant that Hawks would either 1, have to do this himself, or 2, find the trouble and then call for backup.

They'd spent _countless_ hours going over all sorts of scenarios and analyzing the Hero Killer's Quirk and fighting style. Izuku hadn't had much to go off of, considering he only encountered the man once—in _this_ timeline. But it was better than nothing, he supposed.

Izuku had also gifted Keigo with a ton of new gear, including a ray gun and a sound-based stun gun that would (hopefully) knock out whoever it was aimed at. Izuku had said the latter was untested and should only be used as an absolute last resort, as he wasn't sure if it'd knock out the user or not. It _shouldn't_, but there were no guarantees.

The vigilante-turned-legal hero had also provided him with an SOS beacon based off the one Nezu had gifted the not-boy with. Damn, time-travel was confusing, and he wasn't even the one travelling! He didn't know how Izuku kept everything straight.

Keigo smirked as he found Ingenium out on his patrol. For a moment, he sat on the edge of the rooftop and stared. It was so hard to believe that this guy he was staring at was about to nearly die. That today, if Keigo didn't intervene, would be the last day he'd ever be able to walk or run. That this simple, rather unremarkable day, would turn so dark.

He checked his phone, shooting off a text to Izuku through their private Group Chat (though it wasn't much of a _group_ chat with only two people).

**_MotherHen: I've found him. Tailing him now._**

**_BrokenClocks: Good. Keep a close eye on him. He'll attack in an alleyway—wait until he's alone. Call for backup as soon as you can. For the love of Time, Kei… be CAREFUL. I can't lose you, too._**

**_MotherHen: I know. I'll be careful. _**

**_BrokenClocks: Gtg. I'm up against Shinsou. Wish me luck._**

**_MotherHen: Luck? You don't need it. ;) Have fun, kiddo. _**

* * *

Todoroki Shouto wasn't a guy that was intimidated easily. After having gone through countless training sessions with Endeavor, one tended to grow very strong very quickly.

But he'd privately admit that Midoriya Izuku scared him. There was something about the kid that set him on edge, even when he wasn't doing anything remotely related to fighting. He'd known that he _could_ fight, the battle trials were testament to that much. And he'd heard rumors that Midoriya had held off some villains in the USJ Incident, even going as far as _killing_ some of them to protect Asui and Kirishima.

And speaking of, the two consistently tried to get close to the boy, but he kept pushing everyone away. It was like he thought they weren't worth his time, or maybe that he wasn't worth theirs. Though he noted that the boy had grown very quickly attached to that pink-haired girl in Support and the purple-haired boy in General Education.

But that wasn't the point. The fact that he'd fended off villains was nice and all, but it could've been luck. Or minor skill. It shouldn't have indicated that this Quirkless kid could be any sort of threat to him.

And yet… As he watched the boy fight, he could tell he was _majorly_ holding back. Not because he was arrogant, but because he didn't want to _kill_ his opponent. The realization sent an unwelcome shiver down Shouto's spine. Suddenly, it didn't really matter that this kid was Quirkless. That he should be easy to defeat. He hardly even listened to his father as he threatened him again to use his fire.

The image of Midoriya with those shining green orbs staring at him with such intensity… _that_ was where his mind was. When he'd looked at him in that tunnel… he'd stared at him with an odd mixture of pity, sorrow, and understanding. It was a combination that Shouto had never really experienced before, and he had no idea what could've brought it on. But there was also a flash of anger.

That's when he stepped into the ring with said boy. At first, they traded blows on shockingly equal terms. But Shouto quickly grew frustrated when he realized the boy was holding back _again_.

"Why won't you fight me seriously?" He asked the greenette as he sent another wave of ice at him. The boy easily dodged the wave and slid down from the top.

"Why won't _you_?" He countered. Shouto saw red.

"Did _he_ set you up to this?!" He'd thought that Midoriya was better than this.

"Endeavor? Hell no, I hate that guy." Midoriya snorted. "No, I'm not talking about _him_, I'm talking about _you_."

"I won't use his fire. I've told you that."

"It's not _his_ fire, Todoroki. It's _your_ Quirk. It runs in _your_ veins! Your hair isn't _his_, it's _yours_. Your Quirk is the same."

"You don't understand!"

"You're right. I _don't_ understand. You have an incredible gift, Todoroki! One I would _kill_ to have! Do you have any concept of what it's like to grow up Quirkless?! We aren't even treated like human beings!" Midoriya spat, and Shouto abruptly recalled the Movie Theater Incident.

That'd been a rough wakeup call for a lot of class members, himself included. He had never thought people would treat a perfect stranger so cruelly based only on Quirk Status, or lack thereof.

And now the way Midoriya's talking about it… it's obvious that that wasn't the worst of his treatment. But he still didn't see what this had to do with his fire.

"You're insulting me and everyone else here. Everyone's giving it their all, but you're half-assing it, and it's really pissing me off." He glared. "You can't be a hero on only half your power, Todoroki. If you do that, you'll let people _die_. One day, your ice won't be enough, no matter how you train it. And you can't always end a fight before hypothermia sets in."

Shouto clenched a fist.

"It's _your_ Quirk!" He repeated, and something about the way he said it drudged up an old memory. A memory of his mother, from just after he'd gotten his Quirk. He'd created a small spark of fire in one hand and made a bird for his mother, who'd smiled happily at the creation.

She'd told him the same thing. It was _his_ Quirk. And she'd believed he could become a hero.

"You're one crazy son of a bitch." Shouto chuckled under his breath as flames sparked to life.

"There we go."

"Helping your enemies? Don't you want to win?"

"Oh, I plan on it." Midoriya grinned cockily. "But now that you're not holding back, I won't hold back either." He changed his fighting stance abruptly, and Shouto realized something very important.

Midoriya was _left_ handed. This whole time, he'd been fighting _right_ handed. _Oh, shit._ He charged his attack, and released.

* * *

Shouta nearly had a heart attack when he saw Todoroki charge at Midoriya at full power. He'd never seen the boy use his flames before (damnit, Problem Child) and wasn't sure he knew how to control them as well as he did his ice.

Then there was also the fact that apparently Midoriya had been holding back, too. He'd only barely caught it, but the change in the kid's fighting style meant that he'd been using his non-dominant side as his primary means of fighting up until this point.

He vaguely recalled Midoriya using his left side during the USJ Incident. At the time, he hadn't fully registered that fact, nor had it come up again. Shouta had brushed it off as a side effect of his concussion, and left it at that.

The only thing that kept him from rushing out into the arena was Hizashi's gentle hand on his arm. "You can go check on him when the match is called." He reminded him.

He glared, but knew that it was the logical course of action. Midnight and Cementoss had tried to stop the fight there, too, but the two had somehow broken through the concrete barriers that had been hastily erected.

Everyone waited with bated breath as the dust settled. A figure stood just within the barrier of the circle, while another was laying on the ground just outside it.

_You're shitting me_. Shouta's eyes were wide.

"AND MIDORIYA WINS! AMAZING! TODOROKI SHOUTO IS OUTSIDE THE RING!" Hizashi announced as the crowd roared, riding off the high of the fight.

Midoriya hopped down, looking moderately injured, but not as bad as Shouta feared. He offered Todoroki a hand, which the other teen hesitantly took.

The Erasure Hero then left the room, intent on meeting the two at Recovery Girl's temporary setup. He vaguely noted that Hizashi announced a forty-minute or so break to fix the fighting area. Probably for the best, then.

When he came into the room, Recovery Girl already had both Todoroki and Midoriya set up in beds.

"Sensei." Midoriya greeted.

"Problem Child." He sighed. "How bad?"

"Nothing too major. Just a sprained ankle and some mild second degree burns. Some bruising and I think a few cracked ribs." Midoriya listed off as Recovery Girl nodded.

"Sounds about right." She sighed. "Todoroki, on the other hand, has a broken arm, cracked ribs, a mild concussion and a hairline fracture to his cheekbone."

"Sorry." Midoriya apologized.

"Don't." Todoroki said, and Shouta noted that there was a lot more warmth in his tone than there used to be. "You've… made me realize a few things. If anything, I should thank you."

"Hmm… thank me sometime by hanging out with me outside of school, yeah? Grab an ice-cream with Mei, Shinsou and I."

_What part of 'you're being targeted by villains' does this kid not understand?_ Shouta internally groaned.

A knock at the door drew their attention as Hatsume and Shinsou poked their heads in, alongside Asui and Kirishima. Midoriya tilted his head in confusion.

"Uh… hi?"

"Damnit, Izuku, you just keep getting hurt, don't you?!" Hatsume groaned. "But awesome win, by the way."

"You're up against Bakubro next, right?" Kirishima grinned, and Midoriya choked at the nickname.

"He lets you call him that?"

"I mean, he's gotten used to it."

Midoriya snorted. "Yeah, assuming he wins his fight against Uraraka."

"You gonna be okay? I know the two of you have a bit of a history." Shinsou asked softly, causing Midoriya to raise an eyebrow. "What? I can pick up on these things."

"We've actually sorta patched some things up recently, so… yeah. I'm looking forward to the match."

"Tch." Shouta eyed Bakugo as he stood in the doorway. "I'm gonna win. Don't doubt me."

"Kacchan!" Midoriya brightened with a grin. The blond huffed but accepted the childish nickname, making Shouta blink.

"Rest up, Kuzu, because I'm not going to go easy on you." He looked Midoriya in the eye and then gave him a tiny smile. Not a smirk, not a feral grin, but an honest to god _smile_.

Bakugo stepped out of the room a moment later, and Shouta followed him. "So you've found your answer."

"I think so."

"I'll ask you again, then. What kind of hero do you want to be?"

"One who protects." Bakugo answered with a steel in his voice. "I'll become the strongest so I can protect everyone." Shouta took a good long moment to look the boy in the eyes. There was a fire that wasn't there before…

No, that fire had always been there, but it'd been a raging inferno of anger up until this point. Now, it was controlled. It was bright and sure and it made Shouta grin. "You'll be a great hero one day, kid. Never lose sight of your goal."

He made his way back to the announcement booth. Midoriya was relatively fine, and had _friends_ with him. Bakugo was changing for the better, and was now set on a much less violent and bloodthirsty path in life, and Todoroki seemed to have overcome some kind of internal blockade. In short, Shouta wasn't needed here right now, so he could go take a nap.

He texted Viridian instead, worried about his friend who hadn't checked in for several hours.

**_Dadzawa: ViridianChaos you okay? Haven't heard from you for a bit. _**

He put his phone back in his pocket, keeping his hand wrapped around it as he waited for the reply. He walked over to Nemuri and Cementoss to inform them of Midoriya and Todoroki's conditions, and that Midoriya was able and willing to fight in his next match.

Hizashi greeted him when he stepped back into the booth. "No reply?" He glanced at his own phone that had the 'vigilante chat' open. Shouta frowned.

"Not yet. I'm getting worried. He's after Stain, but hasn't checked in for a bit."

"Maybe we should…" Hizashi's eyes flashed to his phone when a call came through. It was from Iida's mother. The two shared a look of trepidation before Hizashi picked it up.

"Iida-san?" He paused as the woman spoke. "Tensei?! Is he okay?! What happened?!" Shouta stiffened. Tensei was a good friend of theirs, and if something had happened to him… "Oh, thank God." Shouta relaxed minutely, the relief in Hizashi's voice told him he was at least alive. "A…are you sure? I mean, wouldn't Tenya want to… Yeah, I guess I can understand that. If that's what Tensei wants… Thanks for letting me know… Yeah, I'll tell Shou. Take care, and let him know to expect a visit from us soon." Hizashi hung up the phone.

"What happened?"

"Tensei was attacked by Stain."

"_What?!_" Shouta felt his blood go cold.

"He's fine! Somehow, he survived without any permanent damage!" Hizashi quickly amended. "He said that another hero was on the scene and saved his life. Hawks, apparently."

"_Hawks_? I thought he was here watching Midoriya?" Shouta's brows furrowed.

"He _was_. I saw him in the lunch room earlier." Hizashi shrugged. "I don't know what made him suddenly leave and go to Hosu, but he showed up and saved Tensei's life. He got banged up pretty nicely, too, so I'm expecting Midoriya to get that call sometime soon. Tensei doesn't want to tell his brother until after he's out of the festival."

"Of course he doesn't." Shouta sighed. Tensei was too softhearted when it came to his baby brother.

"Things'll be okay, Shou. Come on, the matches are picking back up."

"I swear, next year you are _not_ dragging me into this stupid booth. You can announce with Nemuri."

"Shouuuu~"

* * *

Kayama Nemuri watched with a close eye as Midoriya and Iida stepped into the ring. Iida was her childhood friend's baby brother, and Midoriya was the U.A. Staff's (not so secret) favorite this year. If only because the boy had been wronged by the world in more ways than she could count. Either way, this was an interesting matchup, and she was looking forward to the results.

She eyed the crowd warily. Many people were holding signs supporting Iida, and a few people held up signs that put down Midoriya for lacking a Quirk. 'Quirkless Filth go home' 'Stop cheating' and other similar signs could be spotted all around the arena. Luckily, Ectoplasm and Thirteen were escorting those people out of the festival, so the signs were quickly dwindling.

In all honesty it'd taken them only 20 minutes to fix the stage, but they'd wanted to let the contestants rest a bit more. That fight had been brutal, after all.

She grinned as the fight started. Iida made his move first—a mistake. Midoriya nimbly dodged the attack, nearly causing the speedster to run out of the ring of his own accord.

"You can't reach full speed here. The space is too small." Midoriya taunted lightly. "You're fast, I'll give you that. But can you _fight_?"

"Of course I can!" Iida replied indignantly. She couldn't help but feel like Iida would've instantly lost to Shinsou. The poor kid hadn't gotten the opportunity to show off his Quirk since Midoriya kept his mouth shut.

It was a game of cat and mouse for a while. Midoriya kept dodging Iida's attacks and dealing light blows of his own. Nothing major—he likely didn't want to strain any injuries Recovery Girl had been unable to fix.

"Wow, smart kid." Cementoss noted.

"Huh?" Nemuri blinked. What was he talking about?

"You didn't notice?" He chuckled as Iida started to slow down significantly. "Look at what he's doing."

Abruptly, Iida's left leg just sort of gave out. Midoriya pounced on the opportunity like he'd been waiting for it, and quickly shoved Iida out of the ring, winning the match. "In terms of speed, I can't win. But I _can_ use that speed against you." Midoriya said.

"I… I don't understand?"

"I may have looked like I was dodging randomly, but I wasn't. Didn't you notice how I kept making you turn on your left leg? You pivot too much on that one side, so I made sure to make you keep lower to the ground to exhaust you faster. I overworked one specific muscle cluster in your thigh, knowing that sooner or later, it'd give out on you."

Nemuri stared. The kid had that plan from the start?! Shouta was explaining over the intercom for the crowd and viewers as Midoriya explained it for them and Iida.

Iida laughed suddenly. "You're amazing, Midoriya! I never would've thought to use my opponent's own body against them! You truly are the better hero."

"You're great, too! Your Quirk is amazing, you know. Speed like that… I can come up with about a hundred different ways to use that in a fight. Mind if I bounce some ideas off of you?"

"Of course! I'd be honored!"

Well, it looked like these two wouldn't be bitter over the match, at least. Though if Nemuri was being honest, she was fairly concerned about the next match of Midoriya's. Bakugo was rather violent, and despite Shouta's reassurance that the two were patching things up, she knew that a match like this could make all that progress disappear.

She hoped for the little green bean's sake that things would turn out all right.

* * *

Izuku cracked the vertebrae in his neck with a satisfied sigh. "Keep doing that, and you'll get arthritis." Shinsou warned.

"I'll worry about that when I'm 30." Izuku shrugged. It had never bothered him in the First Run, so he doubted this one would be any different.

His phone rang suddenly, playing Keigo's ringtone. He swiftly picked it up. "You still alive?" He inquired, earning a raised eyebrow from his purple-haired friend.

"Yeah, somehow. Damn, Zu, how the hell did you survive that encounter with him?! I know you said he was fast, but… holy shit."

"Luck. Besides, didn't I tell you the first time? He _let_ me live."

Shinsou's other brow rose to meet the first.

"He got away." Keigo said. "I wasn't able to catch him. He backed off when he realized who I was, but I did get a little banged up."

"Define _a little_." Izuku crushed the rising worry that tried to claw its way up his spine. Keigo would be fine. But he also hadn't really planned on Stain escaping Keigo's grasp, but he could improv this… he had to. Iida's life depended on it.

"Sprained wing and a few cracked bones. Minor lacerations and a nasty gash on my arm. That's about it. Like I said, _a little_. Unlike _some_ people, my 'little' typically means non-life threatening."

Izuku let out a breath. "Hey, gimme some credit, yeah? I haven't died yet. How long is the hospital holding you captive?"

"There shouldn't _be_ a yet." Keigo huffed. "The hospital is only holding me for a day or so. Iida's fine. Nothing permanent. Got there just in time."

"Got there…? I though you said you were tailing him?"

"I was, but the guy's _fast_. I nearly lost him a few times."

"Thank you, Keicchan." Izuku smiled. It was a huge weight off his shoulders that the elder Iida's hero career wasn't cut short this go around, despite the imminent danger that the younger Iida found himself in should he still feel the need for vengeance. "Any leads on that other thing?"

"Not yet. He's good at staying hidden."

"Keep an ear out, yeah?"

"Of course."

"Oh, and lemme know if you need me to bust you outta there. Hospitals suck, and I'll need my Support Chicken back soon."

Shinsou snorted at the same time Keigo spluttered.

_"Support Chi—"_

Izuku hung up, chuckling.

"I'm not getting an explanation for that strange and somewhat concerning conversation, am I?" Shinsou sighed.

"Nope~"

Izuku stopped when he saw Endeavor standing before him. He subtly moved so he was in front of Shinsou.

"I don't know what kind of trick you pulled to 'win' that fight, but I don't buy it." He growled. Izuku stared at the man impassively.

"Tricks? The only 'trick' I used was hard work and training. It's called 'skill', Endeavor. I don't need a Quirk to win."

"You think you can get away with talking like that to me, you Quirkless filth?!" He snarled, lighting one fist on fire. Izuku raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Oh, look. The trash is on fire, no wonder it stinks in here." He snorted quietly as a look of rage came over Endeavor's face. "Oh, sorry. I thought that since you insulted me, I was given a free card to insult you. Is that not how this works?"

"I'll show you how—" The larger man's flames abruptly cut out, as Izuku internally grinned. _Right on time, Shou._

"Mind explaining why you're attacking two students?" Aizawa-sensei looked very intimidating with his glowing red eyes and floating hair.

_Red eyes flashed in anger as his cheek stung._

He shook the thought away.

Endeavor looked ready to spout more crap about how he cheated, and there was no way the Quirkless filth had defeated his precious Shouto before thinking better of it. Izuku was mildly disappointed that the man seemed to have a few more brain cells than he'd given him credit for.

"Nothing. I was just congratulating him on his win." Endeavor sneered as he turned around and abruptly walked off.

"What an ass." Izuku sighed.

"Dude, you were so calm! He was about to punch you with a flaming _fist_." Shinsou looked dangerously pale.

"And?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.

"Problem Child." Aizawa took a deep breath. "Explain."

"He thought I cheated so he threatened me." Izuku shrugged. "I'll admit, I knew he was a flaming pile of garbage, but I hadn't realized he was a _Quirkist_ flaming trashcan, too. Though maybe I should have." He scratched his chin as he thought, idly missing his stubble.

"Please try not to piss off Endeavor. He's known for being particularly violent." Aizawa looked like he was internally crying.

"If, by 'particularly violent', you mean 'kills 36% of villains he encounters' then yes; he's particularly violent. Especially when compared to the typical 3%–7% mortality rate of most hero-villain encounters."

"How do you _know_ that?" Shinsou stared.

"I run a lot of calculations in my spare time. I get bored a lot and used to be a hero fanboy." Izuku shrugged.

"Used to be?" Aizawa asked.

"Erm… some things happened that disillusioned me when I was younger." Izuku winced, thinking of the rooftop conversation with All Might. Obviously, Aizawa's mind went to his little (true) story of the hero that left him to burn alive.

"Right. At any rate, your next match will start in about ten minutes. I wanted to check up on you and see how you were holding up."

"Careful, sensei. People might think you care." Izuku teased lightly. Aizawa blinked for a moment before Izuku realized his mistake. That was something that was rather out of character for Izuku, but perfectly in-character for Viridian. He supposed it didn't matter much, though, considering they'd know soon enough.

Aizawa gave him a small smile and ruffled his hair, making Izuku blink up at him in surprise. For a split moment, he saw _Shou_, not Aizawa-sensei. He blinked back the foreign wetness as his hand traced the burn scar on the inside of his left wrist.

"Maybe I do, Problem Child." It was so quiet Izuku _almost_ didn't hear it. He could see Aizawa smiling softly into his Capture Weapon. "If you need anything, you can find me in the announcement booth with Present Mic."

"Thanks. I'll be fine, sensei." He grinned. "I'll see you from the winner's podium!" He called after Aizawa as he walked off.

Izuku swore he heard the hero laugh.

* * *

Katsuki had been looking forward to this fight. He'd been looking forward to this fight for _years_, now. But this also wasn't quite _how_ he'd imagined the fight to go.

It'd started normally enough. De–_Izuku_, it was Izuku, now. The little turd had anticipated his right hook, which Katsuki had expected. He may make fun of the nerd, but he knew he was _really_ good at analyzing people. It pissed him off because Izuku was _always_ right. The same tactics and tricks would never work on him twice.

But Katsuki had instincts that were _made_ for a fight like this. He flew into battle ready to win.

Except he _wasn't_. He'd thrown his best, most volatile, strongest, fastest, and most intuitive and inventive moves at Izuku. And he'd dodged, tanked, or _neutralized_ every single one. Every time, without fail. Now he was at a loss. What could he do now? He'd thrown _everything_ he had at Izuku, and the guy just kept getting back up and throwing something new into the mix.

Since when was the nerd _this_ good?! He'd never been adept at fighting before U.A.! His mind kept supplying him with the looks…

The image of Izuku that day he'd told him to jump off the roof… he would've described him as a young boy with bright, hurt, innocent eyes and a soft heart.

But when he'd seen Izuku again just a day or so later, he'd looked _completely_ different. He had the look of a _man_, not a boy. He didn't know how, because he still _looked_ the same, but it was more the aura that he gave off. There was a shadow in his eyes like he'd seen something horrible, but it'd only been a _day_. What the fuck could he have seen in such a short amount of time?!

He didn't buy the trauma card Izuku kept playing. It _looked_ like trauma, but stuff like that didn't just suddenly appear over night! There was something more to this entire mess, and Katsuki wanted to know what.

Because the nerd had _never_ fought like this, before. This was different than the Battle Trials, too. Like he was fighting with something more on the line than what Katsuki could comprehend.

He tried one more last-ditch effort. Fuck his wrist and shoulder—he could deal with the consequences later. He fired off the biggest explosion he'd ever made in his _life_. Right at Izuku.

And somehow… _somehow_… The nerd managed to duck under him enough that he could deflect the blast upwards, protecting both himself and the crowd.

He then kicked Katsuki hard in the stomach, and he _knew_… he could feel it. He glanced down.

His feet were just outside the white line. Bakugo Katsuki had _lost_. But for once, he wasn't bitter about it. He wasn't angry, not really. He was disappointed, but… there was a sort of relief there. Like suddenly, he didn't have to _always_ win. Like all of a sudden, losing wasn't that bad… so long as it was to Izuku.

"You okay, Kacchan?" He held out a hand towards Katsuki. For a moment, he remembered that day at the river… the one scene he'd run over in his head over and over again, and had only recently realized was his first mistake.

"Damn, De—Kuzu." He corrected himself. "You hit _hard_." He took the proffered hand, this time, grinning. "I'm going to have to up my training."

"IT'S AMAZING FOLKS! THE WINNER OF THE FIRST YEAR'S SPORTS FESTIVAL IS CLASS 1–A'S MIDORIYA IZUKU!" The nerd grinned in a way that Katsuki hadn't seen since… he couldn't remember when.

Yeah… maybe losing to Izuku wasn't such a bad thing, after all… Not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

* * *

Keigo grinned from his hospital bed as he watched the broadcast on his phone. He was awkwardly propped up in the shitty bed with Ingenium in the bed next to him. They were both watching on his phone.

"Look! My brother took third!" Tensei stated proudly, pointing to his brother.

"And _my_ brother took _first_." Keigo boasted, making the other hero choke.

"You have a _brother?!_"

"He's like a brother to me." He grinned, pointing to Izuku. "I'm so proud of him. He's going to change the world, some day."

All Might handed the medals to all the winners and Izuku was given the mic for the closing speech.

"I know a lot of you are angry. 'Why should the Quirkless kid win?', am I right? I can see it in your faces in the crowd. I won because I worked _hard_ to get where I am now, not to say that my schoolmates didn't work hard, too, because they did. And every single one of them, whether they made it past the first round or not, deserves recognition." He paused to let people clap.

"Contrary to popular belief, nobody is born useless or worthless—we're all just born at a different starting line. Some of us need to run faster and farther and work a million times harder than others. And that's okay. Because it's these challenges that we face that ultimately shape us as people. We are never who we were yesterday, and we never will be. Every day, we are someone new, in some small insignificant way. And eventually, be it a week from now or a year from now, we'll be completely different people. And that's how it _should_ be. We're _meant_ to change, not stagnate. Sometimes, we change ourselves; and sometimes, we change others. Sometimes, a single insignificant act is all it takes to push someone over the edge, or pull them back from it. So reach out a hand to the people around you _today_, and become who you never thought you'd be yesterday. You never know how much a single word of kindness will change someone's life." He grinned right into the camera.

"I told you today, that I'd _prove_ that Quirkless is _not_ worthless. Now I challenge you to prove it to yourselves. To all of you out there who are put down for the way you were born. Quirkless, weak-Quirked, malformed, villains-in-the-making—whatever they call you, prove them wrong. Become a better you. If I can do it, so can you. No dream is unattainable if you're willing to reach for it."

Izuku handed the mic back to Midnight, cheeks flushing red as the crowd erupted in cheers (and several boos, but there were significantly more cheers than there were at the beginning of the festival).

"Your brother certainly has passion. And a way with words." Tensei grinned.

"He's been through a lot in his life." Keigo's smile dimmed greatly. "So, what'd your results say?"

"I have some minor nerve damage, but with physical therapy, I should be back on my feet in no time. I really can't thank you enough. They said if you hadn't gotten there when you did, the damage might've been irreparable."

"No worries." Keigo waved him off. "You're fine, now, and that's what matters." He paused for a moment. "You gonna call your brother?"

"Yeah."

"I'm gonna tell mine not to come."

"Why?"

"Because I'll be out of here tomorrow or the day after. He doesn't need to waste money on a train to _Hosu_."

"Understandable." Tensei smiled. "I actually have a couple of friends to call."

* * *

Shouta sighed as he hung up the phone. Tensei was _fine_. He shared a relieved look with Nemuri and Hizashi. The four had been good friends while they attended U.A. together. They'd all been concerned when they heard about the attack.

He was worried about Midoriya, though. The kid was really close to Hawks, enough to consider him a brother. Now, Hawks was hospitalized for a few days because of this same incident. He'd have to pull the kid aside later and ask if he was doing okay. He'd do the same for Iida, but he was already gone, off to visit his brother and assure himself that he's all right.

He nearly jumped when his phone vibrated.

**_ViridianChaos: Sorry I haven't been on, lately. I'm fine. Had to give Hawks a hand, is all._**

**_Dadzawa: You idiot! Do you have any idea how worried we were?!_**

**_Scream: You know it's bad when Shou admits that aloud. _**

"OW!" Hizashi glared as Shouta whacked his arm again for good measure.

"Don't use my civilian name."

"Who're you textin?" Nemuri glanced over Hizashi's shoulder.

"Viridian." Shouta answered simply.

"As in the _vigilante_?"

"He's a legal hero, now." He corrected tiredly.

**_ViridianChaos: I'm not hurt, but my phone kinda died. Can't exactly charge it on a stakeout, ya know?_**

**_Dadzawa: You're incorrigible._**

**_Scream: Oh yeah! We're gonna have a meeting soon with Midoriya, wanna come along? Eraser wanted to invite you!_**

**_Dadzawa: The kid's going to explain a few things, and we'd appreciate your presence there. Tsukauchi's also coming along, as per the kid's request. _**

**_ViridianChaos: Yeah, I'll be there. Just lemme know the day and time. ;)_**

Shouta didn't know why, but he felt like Viridian was laughing at him. At any rate, it was long past time to go home. He was tired, and he no longer had any obligation to stay awake. He had a feeling that he'd need as much sleep as he could get.


	17. Chapter 17: The Answers We Seek

**_Chapter 17: The Answers We Seek_**

**_A/N: Hi~! It's been a while, huh? I rewrote this chapter about 6 or 7 times, so that's why it took forever. Sorry about that, it just... didn't wanna flow. We've finally reached the reveal scene! I hope I've done it justice. And please enjoy!_**

**_IMPORTANT! I've gone back through all of Viridian and rewritten the story, adding in more details and whatnot. I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you re-read this story before reading the new chapter. You may not necessarily be confused, but it'll help add more depth to everything. :3_**

**_I also can't remember which fanart I've linked before and which fanart I haven't. So if I double-link one, that's why. If I forgot yours, please let me know and I'll post it with the next chapter. :3_**

**_I've also misplaced a few usernames of people who've made amazing fanart, so if I get yours wrong, please let me know. ^^;_**

**_For fanart, please look at this story on AO3, Quotev, or Wattpad, as this site doesn't allow me to create links. :3_**

**_That being said, I've created a Discord! :D If you wanna join, this is the link: Dz5Er7W_**

**_There are TWO ANIMATICS for this story, and I'm so PUMPED! :D Ginormous thanks to Ollie for this! I'm SO HAPPY! Here's the link for that. :3 Just look up Cups Animatic on youtube, and it should pop up. The second one's by the same person. :D_**

**_As always, send any fanart to aizawa at email dot com. :)_**

* * *

Izuku paced in the little camper he called home. Keigo was eyeing him; the winged hero was still smattered here and there with bandages from his release from the hospital the day before. Most importantly, today was Saturday—the day of the meeting where he'd reveal himself as a time-traveling 44-year-old man who also happened to be their 15-year-old student and the vigilante-turned-hero that the world seemed to have their eye on.

He was understandably a little nervous. They'd either believe him and help out, or he'd be wishing he could undo whatever it was he was about to do when they laughed him out of the room and called the happy farm.

He clenched the necklace.

"Relax, Zukkun. I'm here with you. Besides, you're bringing along more than just the necklace." Keigo placed a hand on his shoulder. "No need to pace a hole in this place, it's barely holding together as is."

"Hey! My house is perfectly—" He paused a moment to slam the panel back onto the wall where it'd popped out. "Stable, thank you!" Keigo gave him a flat look. "Okay, so it's a work in progress. But it's _livable_."

"Livable and _safe_ to live in are two very different things, my bro."

"It hasn't given me tetanus yet~"

"The yet shouldn't even _be_ there." Keigo groaned. "I swear, if you don't move in with me, I'm going to tell U.A. today and make them build a dorm system."

"MOM, NO!"

"Mom, _yes_." Keigo crossed his arms.

"But U.A. will take away my sake!" Izuku cried.

"You still have that?! NO ALCOHOL UNTIL YOU'RE LEGAL!"

"I _am_ legal!" Izuku stuck out his tongue.

"Not in this timeline, you aren't."

"Fine, whatever." Izuku huffed, making a mental note to hide several alcohol bottles in various locations around town (and UA) so Keigo didn't take them away.

"Don't stress. If they don't believe you, we've still got Hanabi." Keigo reminded him.

Hanabi was an acquaintance of Keigo's that owed him a favor. She had the most curious Quirk: Memory Lane. She could pull other people into someone's memory and make them all relive it in third person, as spectators. Izuku was itching to analyze it, especially since it worked _in spite _of memory-altering Quirks.

She was a mental specialist who often worked with police. Her Quirk would work accurately even on someone who'd been memory altered or had their memories suppressed. He wanted to know the specifics, but he had yet to meet the girl in question.

He hoped he wouldn't have to. That was an absolute last-ditch option. He didn't want to traumatize everyone, after all. Or… _re_-traumatize them? Whatever.

Either way, the issue now was _how_ to go about this… Aizawa likely already suspected him of at least _knowing _Viridian, if not pulling the same conclusion as Todoroki about him being related to himself (and he was right—Keigo laughed his _ass_ off when Izuku told him about Todoroki's accusation).

He looked down when his phone buzzed. Call him paranoid, but he slipped a tracker into Aizawa, Tsukauchi, and Keigo's hero phones (or work phone in Tsukauchi's case)—something that they took with them _everywhere_. That way, no matter what, he could find them if they got into trouble.

And Aizawa was on the move. But he was heading _away_ from U.A. Izuku's brows furrowed. That wasn't right… where was he…?

**_Dadzawa: Viridian, I was going to ask you to pick Midoriya up, but I'll do it myself. I want to give him a home-check. I know you said he's safe at home, but I need to make sure. I think we've already established that you don't always recognize Quirkless discrimination as such._**

Oh, _shit_. "Keigo?" He looked at his brother. "How fast do you think we could fly to my mother's house?"

"I'd say about ten minutes or less, why?" Keigo shot him a suspicious look.

Izuku showed him the phone. "Because Aizawa's en route to what he _thinks_ is my house. And Inko _really_ doesn't want to see me, I'm sure."

"Crap. Hold on, Zukkun!" Keigo shook out his wings as they ran outside. Izuku made sure to grab his things. _Well, that's one cat out of the bag._

* * *

Shouta didn't know what he was expecting when he knocked on the door of the Midoriya residence. The woman that stood before him bore a striking resemblance to his Problem Child. She had a thin physique with long green hair and shimmering green eyes.

"Hello?" She tilted her head, confused.

"Hi, I'm Aizawa Shouta, your son's homeroom teacher." He answered, but the woman looked even _more_ confused.

"My son…?" There was a flash of… was that _confusion_ in her eyes? Had Midoriya not informed her of his attendance at U.A.? He really hoped he hadn't just fucked up and made a possible abusive situation worse.

Shouta was about to say something, when footsteps echoed on the concrete stairs leading up to the apartment. He turned to see his Problem Child panting lightly. The kid stopped when he saw his mother in the doorway.

"M–Inko." Midoriya started.

The woman looked at him for a moment, as if she didn't recognize him. "Oh, Izuku. I'm sorry I haven't been home, much, lately. Goodness, I never even asked which high school you got into." She smiled softly at him, but something was _definitely_ wrong, here.

Midoriya snorted. "I got into _U.A._'s Hero course."

"Come, now. Don't lie, especially in front of a guest. We both know your… _condition_."

_Condition? Does she mean his Quirklessness?_ Shouta felt anger spark up within him.

"My name is Aizawa Shouta, a teacher at UA. Your son is my student—I teach 1–A Heroics." He stepped in, noting with a small amount of smug satisfaction as the woman jolted at the information.

"1–A… UA's…? But… he's Quirkless? Heroics is far too dangerous for someone like him." She protested. Something about her tone made it seem forced. Like her worry wasn't genuine.

"Don't even pretend to care." Midoriya shook his head. "You're a _terrible_ mother, you know that?"

Shouta jolted at the steel in his student's voice. The woman apparently hadn't expected it, either.

"Listen here, Izuku. I am your _mother_, and you will _not_ disrespect me that way."

"What kind of mother doesn't even notice that her son's been gone for over a year?" Midoriya spat, glaring. There was a disappointment coloring his tone. "I mean, I knew you didn't care, but this is a new low. I thought you'd at least _notice_."

Shouta's head spun at this new information. This was looking to be a case of severe neglect. And… had Midoriya _run away_? Where was he staying? And why the hell hadn't Viridian _told_ them?!

Midoriya Inko eyed Shouta nervously for a moment. "Don't lie—I made your favorite just last night for dinner."

"Oh, did you, now? Do you even _remember_ what my favorite meal is?"

"Of course I do, I'm your _mother_. It's Katsudon."

"It hasn't been Katsudon since I was _seven_." Midoriya sighed. "Look, just… don't. Don't even bother, anymore. Not that you did to begin with." The boy gave his mother the most exhausted look Shouta's ever seen on a child's face. It was weary and filled with a sense of resignation. "You know… I think some part of me still held out hope… that maybe you really _did_ care about a Quirkless kid like me. But it looks like I was wrong. _Again_."

Shouta could sense the finality in his student's tone, and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked back at the woman in the doorframe as he guided his student away. She looked like she'd been slapped, but there was something in her eyes.

Maybe there was something else at play, here.

Either way, he was going to file a case against her with Tsukauchi for child neglect, but for now he had some more pressing matters. Once they were away from the complex, he looked at his student. "You ran away."

"Around the beginning of my third year of middle school."

"And you're staying…?"

The kid sighed. "I guess there's no way around it, is there?"

"No."

"Dagoba Beach Park." Shouta stopped short.

"The _dump_?" Even _Viridian_ should've known that was wrong, Quirkless or not. So why… why hadn't he told them? Unless… Viridian really _was_ Midoriya's father. In that case, were they both living at the dump?

"I'll have you know that you can salvage a _lot_ in that place." His Problem Child huffed. But wait… hadn't Hawks said that he'd spent time at Midoriya's place? "If you're wondering about Hawks… I asked him not to tell anyone. I have my reasons, okay? I've got some powerful enemies after me, and I can't put him in danger by staying with him."

"More powerful than the League of Villains?"

Midoriya snorted. "I'm sure it'll make sense after this meeting."

The meeting. Shouta would be lying if he said he wasn't beyond curious. Even Principal Nezu hadn't been able to figure out the mystery that was the child walking beside him, which was moderately terrifying. He wondered just how much of a headache he'd have by the end of this.

They rode the early morning train in silence. Midoriya was staring into his phone, but he hadn't scrolled for several minutes. The kid was understandably nervous, and likely shaken from their earlier encounter with his mother.

"Listen, Midoriya." He spoke up softly, and those bright green eyes turned to him. "No matter what happens at this meeting, know that I'm in your corner, okay? I'll be here for you."

"If you believe me." Shouta would never admit it aloud, but the kid's lack of faith in him _hurt_.

"I _will_ believe you. I promise." He found himself locked into a staring contest. He felt exposed, like Midoriya was judging his soul, determining his worth. It was unnerving, to say the least.

"I really hope you do, Shou." His eyes were somewhat glassy and unfocused, but not quite in a flashback sort of way. It was as if he was remembering something. Shouta was so caught up in the mystery that was his student that he nearly missed their stop.

"This is us, Problem Child." He gently ruffled the kid's hair, earning a surprised smile from the boy. Midoriya quickly followed after him as they entered U.A., heading straight for Nezu's office.

Midoriya stopped him right outside of the principal's door. "Sensei? I need to use the restroom. I'll be right back."

Shouta almost stopped him, but remembered how _defeated_ the kid had looked after speaking to his mother. He probably needed a bit of time to process that before delving into his trauma. He sighed. "Fine, but make it quick." He entered the office alone.

The principal was already there, enjoying a cup of tea with Tsukauchi and Hawks, though Viridian was nowhere to be seen. He twitched. Damnit, why was that man always late?

"Midoriya will be joining us shortly—he's using the restroom first." Shouta explained before anyone could ask. Hawks chuckled lightly to himself, but Shouta didn't get the chance to ask him about it as Viridian walked in.

"Hey, Ri." Hawks greeted casually.

"Keigo~" Viridian grinned as he came over and clasped hands with the hero. Well, looked like those two were on friendly terms. They'd probably met on patrol or something. The two did seem to have similar personalities, and if Viridian was related to Midoriya, then it would stand to reason that the two would be close.

"Ah, Viridian, I presume?" Nezu smiled. "Would you like some tea?"

"Principal Nezu." Viridian greeted. "And Present Mic. Yes, I'd love a cup of tea, thank you."

"Ah, good." The principal handed Viridian a cup. "We're just waiting on Midoriya, now."

Hawks chuckled lowly, but masked it as a cough. Viridian sent him a glare. "Before we start, I… have something I need to tell you. Midoriya will still be a little bit." Viridian said.

Had he spoken to the kid beforehand? If Viridian had something to say and he didn't want the kid to know, then it'd stand to reason that he'd have the kid make up some kind of excuse to leave, and as a teacher, Shouta's heard the restroom excuse more times than should be legal.

"Oh?" Nezu tilted his head.

"I promise, it's related to our reason for being here today."

"What, have we _finally_ graduated to 'tragic backstory' or something?" Shouta rolled his eyes. He normally wasn't one to joke, but Viridian had a similar sense of humor. He supposed it was okay to joke with his… _friend._

"Actually, yes."

Tsukauchi choked on his coffee as Viridian calmly took a sip of tea, pulling his mask back down before speaking again.

"And your origins relate to Midoriya's trauma in what way?" Nezu narrowed his gaze, suspicious.

"In _every_ way." Viridian answered. "But my story… is unbelievable. I know it's going to sound insane, but…_ I need you to trust me._" There was something in his eyes. A desperation. The sort of soul-crushing agony that drove men to madness. A loneliness that was so sharp and a grief so strong that Shouta's heart hurt just _seeing_ it in his friend's eyes.

"You're our friend, Viridian." Tsukauchi spoke up. "We _trust_ you."

"Of _course_ we'll believe you." Shouta nodded in agreement. Nezu and Hizashi stayed quiet, but he could sense their curiosity.

"You already know my answer." Hawks smirked.

"So… Here's the thing. I'm actually from the future."

There was a pause. Surely he must be joking, right? Viridian did that a lot. But there was a look in his eyes and a shock that was painted all over Tsukauchi's face that told him he was telling the truth.

Viridian pulled out a carefully bound stack of papers—they looked _old_—and handed them to Nezu. "Those are the blueprints for Project Hope—the time machine I built alongside Aizawa Shouta, my good friend."

Shouta jolted at the sound of his name. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. Well, future-you." He sighed deeply. "The plan was for Shou and I to jump back together, but… he died protecting me… died to send me back."

Hizashi's hand took his, and Shouta looked at Viridian in a whole new light. This man had once been his friend, and he'd died to send him to the past… but why? Why was that necessary?

"I'm afraid that I'm still missing some information." Nezu noted as he flipped through the pages. "This is certainly feasible given the materials and calculations, but I fail to see _why_ this was necessary." There was a sort of sharpness to the principal's gaze. "Altering time for the wrong reasons _is_ technically illegal, though it's never been done on this sort of scale before. Ten years?"

"Thirty-eight, actually." Viridian admitted. The room jolted.

"Even the handful of time-related Quirks that've popped up over the years… nothing of this scale has ever been…" Tsukauchi trailed off, blinking owlishly at the vigilante.

"If it's illegal, then you can arrest me after I kill Shigaraki Tomura. But I _have_ to prevent the future I came from." His fist tightened.

"Is this personal? Or is the greater populace at risk? Depending on the situation, it _may_ be legal." Tsukauchi spoke up.

"Shigaraki Tomura will bring an end to the world as we know it. Cities razed to the ground—_billions_, perhaps more, _dead_. I've seen so many _horrible_ things."

"The _apocalypse_?" Hizashi choked.

"Yeah." Viridian nodded. "I've already changed up a few things, but until he dies, that future is still _there_. Until I can kill him and prevent him from receiving All for One, that future will remain."

All for One... the name of a shadow-villain who ruled the underworld. If the rumors Shouta had heard about him were correct, he was the villain equivalent of All Might—truly a terrifying prospect.

"All for One?!" Tsukauchi blinked before his gaze narrowed. "So he _is_ alive."

"Yes, but the _real_ threat is his protégé—Shigaraki Tomura. He may seem like a childish gamer—and he _is_, right now—but he's frighteningly intelligent." Viridian shuddered hard. "He _created_ these Nomu that have… special attributes. Things like speed, strength, _flight_… They eventually grew into their own species and gained an animalistic sentience. They'd attack any humans they came across. I can count on one hand how many survivor groups I ran across, even after…" He winced.

"So let me get this straight." Tsukauchi took a deep calming breath. Shouta knew the feeling—this was a _lot_ of information. "You've come from thirty-something years in the future to kill the man who will one day destroy the world, causing the deaths of countless people." He paused. "Do I have that right?"

"Yep. Pretty much." Viridian nodded. "I know it's unbelievable… but I've… I've got proof."

Shouta blinked at that. Proof _would_ be nice, because right now it just sounded like some kind of fucked up fairytale.

"Shou gave it to me… Said it'd convince you." Viridian lifted his mask a bit and reached down his shirt enough to pull up a necklace. It actually looked a lot like Midoriya's.

Nezu's eyes widened as something clicked into place, and Shouta was somewhat terrified, because he'd _never_ seen Nezu look shocked before. "I see." Nezu chuckled to himself for a moment before dissolving into full on cackles.

"Aw~ You took my fun away." Viridian pouted.

"Relax, Ri. Everyone else is still confused." Hawks chuckled. So the winged hero had already known all this. He felt a little miffed that this other hero was trusted before himself and Tsukauchi.

He ignored Nezu, who was starting to calm down, as he took the proffered necklace. It was only then that he saw what sat on the other end of that chain.

His hand went to his own necklace, hidden beneath his shirt. Two rings sat together, one with a deep purple stone and the other with a bright shining green one. _'Forever in Harmony_' was engraved along the inside as celtic-like knots intertwined with one another around the outside of the band. The one with the purple stone was encrusted with dried blood, and it looked a little worse for wear when compared to the other one. Neither looked to have been cleaned in a long time.

Hizashi gasped beside him. "That's… our wedding bands?" They both raised their gazes to Viridian.

"That's right." He smiled softly. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, back then. But I swear I'll protect you, now."

Shouta reluctantly handed the rings back to the vigilante-turned-hero, who took them gently with a soft look. He rubbed his thumb along Hizashi's with a forlorn gaze.

"Hasn't Midoriya been taking a while?" Tsukauchi spoke up suddenly. "I mean, I know this was a lot of information—_very important_ information, mind you—but weren't we originally here for the kid?"

Oh, yeah. That was right. But now, something new started to slide into place in his mind.

Midoriya called them Zashi and Shou, and he was far more skilled in combat than normal. He took down a Nomu without a second glance, and mentioned them during the Battle Trials before he'd even _seen_ the one at USJ. Midoriya had had previous encounters with the Nomu, but refused to tell them where or when. He didn't socialize well with his peers—though that was slowly changing between Hatsume and Shinsou—and was always on-edge. He had severe PTSD and seemed to be after Shigaraki Tomura.

The puzzle pieces had been there all along, but he'd never thought to put them together like this before.

His eyes widened as Viridian reached for his mask.

"Oh, yeah… about that."

He slipped off the mask, and at first Shouta couldn't process what he was seeing. Fluffy green hair and bright green eyes framed by a familiar smattering of freckles. The scar from Shigaraki was what really cemented this as reality.

With a shuddering breath, Shouta clicked the final puzzle piece into place.

Midoriya Izuku smirked. "I fixed the 'w' key."


End file.
